WHAT’S SO FUNNY: Your face might freeze like that

Our daughter’s boyfriend, Jimmy, just visited for a week before he and Katie went back to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.

We get along with him, which is a great relief.

When I was a young man, my girlfriends’ fathers usually met me with ill-concealed horror.

When I got to be a father myself, the look of horror came from Katie’s boyfriends.

It was my fault.

Upon greeting Katie’s first high-school dates I assumed a borderline-psychotic look, reasoning that they’d be less likely to take liberties with my daughter if they thought I might be a maniac.

We fathers initially distrust our daughters’ boyfriends because we know many young males live in what Clifford Odets once called “a land of moral twilight.”

Never mind how we know this; we just do. And although a young man might seem OK, he could later rip off the mask and reveal himself as — well, someone like us.

Now Katie’s in college and her life is, of course, none of my business. But I still follow it with interest.

Jimmy seemed OK when he came out to visit last winter.

He was funny, good-natured, studying biology, going to teach science someday — much as I pictured young Dr. Jekyll.

As I drove him and Katie home from LAX I tested his good nature by playing a CD of Gene McDaniels singing “Tower of Strength” — the first single I ever bought. I also played some old Bobby Vee tunes. Few college students can withstand such programming without a show of temper.

Jimmy remained sunny; he didn’t crack. But I was sure he was counting the moments until he could wash those songs right out of his head.

Ten months later, Patti Jo and I visited Dickinson for a day to see our new sophomore. When we got to her dorm, Katie turned on the radio and we heard the Sunday afternoon campus DJ:

“My girlfriend’s parents are in from California, so the next three songs are for them.”

Whereupon we heard “Tower of Strength,” the Carpenters for Patti Jo, then Bobby Vee. I had to give Jimmy credit: It was a hand well-played.

We’ve also met Jimmy’s parents and discovered that he and his family are good people. The truth is, Katie has pretty sound judgment and I don’t need my psychotic look anymore.

Now if I could just get rid of it….

SHERWOOD KIRALY is a Laguna Beach resident. He has written four novels, three of which were critically acclaimed. His novel, “Diminished Capacity,” is now available in bookstores, and the film version will soon be out on DVD.