Dale Price is every shy, easily embarrassed kid’s worst nightmare.
The loving-but-nutty Utah pop made it his life’s work to mortify teen son Rain Price all school year by donning oddball costumes and waving at the kid’s passing bus every morning.
PHOTO: THE WORLD’S MOST EMBARRASSING DAD
‘‘At times it was crazy, at times poorly thought out — but always creative,’’ a laughing Price told The Post last night, recounting his son’s 170 days of teen hell.
‘‘What was I doing in a mermaid’s outfit and a shell bra? That was the poorly-thought-out part.’’
It all started when Price noticed his son’s school bus had changed its route, taking it right past the family’s American Fork, Utah, home.
Price, not in costume, waved at his son on that first day and Rain wasn’t happy. Little did he know, the teen terror show was just beginning.
When Rain told his stay-at-home pop to never do that again, Price said he took that as a challenge: “After that, it was game on.”
Price waved at his kid in a San Diego Chargers football helmet the next day, kicking off nine months of lunacy.
The 46-year-old Price never used the same costume twice, borrowing odds and ends from neighbors and pals to build an incredibly array of getups.
He barely spent $50 on all the wild, outlandish and silly outfits that included: A pirate, a blushing bride, Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, Robin, the Little Mermaid and the Easter Bunny. One time, Price sat on a disconnected toilet, reading a newspaper.
In his final shot, Price dressed as peg-legged pirate. The one-leg outfit was a recurring theme and homage to his own, real-life, prosthetic leg.
‘‘I’ve always made a joke of my leg,’’ said Price, who lost his leg 19 years ago in a motorcycle accident. ‘‘You can’t take it too seriously.’’
Despite Rain’s embarrassment, his dad was determined to show how much he loved him.
‘‘I was just trying to instill in him, you can have a good time and laugh at yourself,’’ he said.
‘‘Life is hard enough, you have to have some humor. And when you’re my son’s age in high school, life gets a little crazy. You need to laugh a little.’’
It took a long time, but Rain finally got in on the joke. The family maintained a blog, photographing and cataloging each weird outfit.
“At first it was shocking and mortifying. I begged, I begged him, not to go out there again,” said Rain, a 4.0 student who wasn’t completely scarred by the experience. “So it started out as embarrassing, but it turned into something funny.”
Rain is now 16 and will drive or get rides from friends to get to school next year, so Price’s full-time dress-up career is probably done.
But wife Rochelle, who works for a software company, could be in store for some surprises.
‘‘I might be making a cameo appearance every now and then — maybe at the office building where she works,’’ he said. ‘‘I have a few things in mind.’’