See other 4play Articles
Title: Gotta Be Over 40 to Understand
Source:
email list
URL Source: http://email
Published: Jun 9, 2006
Author: unkonwn
Post Date: 2006-06-09 13:05:30 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 3391
Comments: 232
Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't get food poisoning. My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat a bite raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper, in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember anybody getting e.coli. Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then. The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system. We all took gym, not PE... and risked permanent injury with a pair of hightop Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built-in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened, because they tell us how much safer we are now.... Flunking gym was not an option... even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything, and she could even give you an aspirin for a headache or fever. I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. Oh yeah..and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed! We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked! Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat. We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either, because if we did, we got our butt spanked there, and then we got butt spanked again when we got home. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a "dysfunctional family". How could we possibly have known that we needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive?
Poster Comment: LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T---- SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Comments (1-94) not displayed.
.
.
.
#95. To: lodwick (#91)
Though, for hope, one can always keep the ember kindled by taking time to chat up the neighbors on a warm evening, turn off the TV, find an old reel style mower to cut the grass (or a "Big Wheel" style gas powered one with the cast iron Clinton engine...) "To wield onself -- to use oneself as a tool in one's own hand -- and so to make or break that which no one else can build or ruin -- THAT is the greatest pleasure known to man! To one who has felt the chisel in his hand and set free the angel prisoned in the marble block, or to one who has felt sword in hand and set homeless the soul that a moment before lived in the body of his mortal enemy -- to those both come alike the taste of that rare food spread only for demons or for gods." -- Gordon R. Dickson, "Soldier Ask Not"
It did! :-D
*sigh* great post, Ax.
Funny how we thought nothing of buying Coke in those chipped up used bottles. I
can personally attest to the indestructibility of them. As hard as we tried,
they’d rarely shatter. But if they did, the chunks became little land minds
capable of blowing out any size car tire.
yeah, but i dont got no boyfriend.....got a lot of admirers, tho... dang...if i wuz gay, i could be a player.... funny, im at this seminar in denver, and like, damn near all the hotel front desk guys are gay.... i approach the counter, and theres always at least one chick back there...i get to like ten feet out and the guys are all...'can i help you sir?' uh yeah, i need help with my sense of style and design.
'We shall no longer hang on to the tails of public opinion, or to a non-existent authority, on matters utterly unknown and strange. We shall gradually become experts ourselves in the mastery of the knowledge of the future.' ~ Wilhelm Reich
Used to be used alot. It sometimes turns your teeth orange I think.
Mumbly peg! I don't miss that one.
and we didn't have no cell phones with GPS Big Brother tracking either, just 2cans and a string.
The mind once expanded by a new idea never returns to its' original size
I always wanted one of these
Funny Grumble. I really should comb the back woods of Centre County...
Had they tried this Big Brother crap back then it would have met some resistance, for sure. Now it's been eased in over the past 30 years and the sheeple simply bend over.
Right and the Title on FR s/b "You have to be under 40 (IQ)"
The mind once expanded by a new idea never returns to its' original size
Puppy love.........and first loves. *sigh*
Dang it all....I may have to reconsider the Carolinas! LOL.
Hey, yeah.......I remember that coke bottle deposit stuff. Remember the name Fresca, too, though I never drank it. And I remember full service ALL the time at service stations. I used to work for Atlantic Richfield, ARCO. I can remember gas wars when gas that was usually selling for 15 or 16 cents a gallon would get all the way down to something like 8 or 9 cents a gallon. Diesel was a 'waste' product, normally selling for well below gas (like maybe 8 or 9 cents) and how, I think it is higher than gas.
Regarding that spraying.....it's really been a very long time ago, but I think the crop dusting planes used in the San Joaquin Valley in Californicate also spray for 'skeeters' with DDT.
Something sort of rings a bell.......don't know if it's the name, or the green color. I can remember it being kept on a shelf in the bathroom--not a medicine cabinet shelf, but a linen shelf where other stuff like that was kept.
This thread is sooooo neat. I learned to sew on my Mom's old, ancient treadle Singer machine. In fact, she wishes she still had it because these new fangled ones just aren't as dependable or reliable as the old treadle ones were. I had a boss at Atlantic Richfield who inherited one of those; Bob wound up taking the guts out of the machine and making the cabinet a table for house plants. It was a beautiful piece. At the ranch in Montana, I 'inherited' a couple of old treadles. My husband had done a lot of woodworking and he tried to restore--but they were simply too far gone. I was lucky that he was able to finish a replica old-fashioned ice box for me out of oak before he died.
. Oh yeah...........you, too!!!!
me too(late) you row(dee) aka me Tarzan you jane
The mind once expanded by a new idea never returns to its' original size
That one is from about the late '60s -early '70s then they stopped making them. The earlier ones are better. The painting is more Rockwell-like and the back is a Coke bottle. I haven't seen one in almost 40 years.
Funny - thanks. (Sadly, true)
Yep. It should be 25-35% below gasoline prices...in a honest market.
LOL.
Dad sent me to the drugstore to buy the raw materials for gunpowder.
No, I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space.
Dad sent me to the drugstore to buy the raw materials for gunpowder. Somehow it seems that it was easier to get consent then from Mom or Dad than it is now from your Uncle Sam.
I guess I shouldn't mention monitoring the Russian nuclear fallout with a geiger counter, in the 7th grade science class.
A quote from my fathers mom at a gas station. They'd just paid ~14 cents a gallon... Mimi (the grandma name for her): Where's my S&H green stamps? Attendant: Lady, there ain't no green stamps today, we're having a gas war... I used to colect Green Stamps. Got a tackle box and lures with them. That was the "hottest thing since sliced bread" :-)
"To wield onself -- to use oneself as a tool in one's own hand -- and so to make or break that which no one else can build or ruin -- THAT is the greatest pleasure known to man! To one who has felt the chisel in his hand and set free the angel prisoned in the marble block, or to one who has felt sword in hand and set homeless the soul that a moment before lived in the body of his mortal enemy -- to those both come alike the taste of that rare food spread only for demons or for gods." -- Gordon R. Dickson, "Soldier Ask Not"
It is, but using it deny's the state tax revenue so it's dyed for motor fuel and called "#2 fuel oil" for home heating oil...
"To wield onself -- to use oneself as a tool in one's own hand -- and so to make or break that which no one else can build or ruin -- THAT is the greatest pleasure known to man! To one who has felt the chisel in his hand and set free the angel prisoned in the marble block, or to one who has felt sword in hand and set homeless the soul that a moment before lived in the body of his mortal enemy -- to those both come alike the taste of that rare food spread only for demons or for gods." -- Gordon R. Dickson, "Soldier Ask Not"
you're so astute. ;)
LOL!
Ha !!! My mother's books were the size of a phone book. I remember tagging along to the supermarket with the stamps falling out all over. Didn't they get steak knives or something??
Two Million got you steak knives, three billion a nine dollar toaster. Most got lost, what a scam.
Used to be a parent could send a kid to the store with a note to buy cigarettes and I think beer. Cigarettes, for sure......
Oh gawd............yes! S&H Green Stamps!!! LOL................and weren't there some called Blue and Gold, or maybe that was a 'local' thang! I can remember wetting the backs of the stamps and filling in the books! And the catalog with the 'good stuff' you could redeem them for.
I ain't over 40 and I know some of this stuff. =0)
I bought cigarettes when I was 14 or so, and looked it. They didn't care. I acted old enough to be trusted with a lighter... We're not better off now that they're forced to care at threat of fine/imprisonment, or ruinous lawsuit. That just leaves the path clear for freaks with an agenda.
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
"To wield onself -- to use oneself as a tool in one's own hand -- and so to make or break that which no one else can build or ruin -- THAT is the greatest pleasure known to man! To one who has felt the chisel in his hand and set free the angel prisoned in the marble block, or to one who has felt sword in hand and set homeless the soul that a moment before lived in the body of his mortal enemy -- to those both come alike the taste of that rare food spread only for demons or for gods." -- Gordon R. Dickson, "Soldier Ask Not"
Had to laugh at the back and forth conversation grandma and the attendant had. Reminded me of a conversation I overheard my parents having....conversation being the key word. They had just been to the grocery store and came home. Had gone with my dad's old white pickup truck. The bed was full of brown paper bags. Us kids were helping haul the 'loot' in and I overheard my Mom talking about highway robbery and this mess costing $15!! We never lived high on the hog, but my Mom could cook a pigs ear and you'd think you were eating filet mignon! Give her the ingredients and she could cook with the best. Good home-style cooking, and lots of it. Even in bad times we never knew it because what she cooked was always so filling and seemed so rewarding. I look back on so many of those growing up years now and see that we were dirt poor many of those years. But we never knew it! I can remember one year at the annual canned good drive at our elementary school Mom insisting we each take a can of food to the school harvest basket. There weren't many choices--a can of this soup or a can of that veggie--but we did our part to help the poorer among us have a nice Thanksgiving dinner. One evening, there was a knock at the door. My dad opened the door. There was a basket of food with a small turkey sitting on the top with a Happy Thanksgiving card from the school harvest basket! To this day, none of us can figure out 'how' they knew times were rough. Coulda been observant teachers....or Gods angels looking out for us.
S & H bought up all their competitors...with savings stamps. Economists stumped, film at eleven.
Quit bogarting that peace, Herbert!
Comments (136 - 232) not displayed.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestYes, the simple, and often simple-minded, things that we did and enjoyed back in the day, I fear may be forever lost; except in our memories.
#96. To: lodwick (#94)
#97. To: Axenolith (#86)
While the specific place will mean little to most, the connection resulted in the decline and dissappearance of a host of Mom and Pop restaurants, highway stands and curio shops. There was always something odd, new or noteworthy about that route. Afterwards it just became a ribbon of concrete and interstate traffic with the only thought being "can I do this any faster than the last time" whereas before if it took you 4.5 hours your only thought was "That was THAT long?!?!"
#98. To: Axenolith (#86)
Not only did "Co' Cola" (Coke) and other sodas come in super
thick bottles that often showed the wear on the high points of being refilled
dozens of times, but you could get a whole nickel or dime for them at the
supermarket and the deposit wasn't a government mandate, it was because the
company wanted them back for re-use.
#99. To: christine (#20)
hey, and i was on the handlebars of boyfriend's bikes many a time...try that nowadays!
#100. To: mehitable (#69)
Can people use tetracycline?
#101. To: lodwick (#91)
Yes, the simple, and often simple-minded, things that we did and enjoyed back in the day, I fear may be forever lost; except in our memories.
#102. To: Jethro Tull (#98)
#103. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#102)
#104. To: Grumble Jones (#103)
#105. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#102)
#106. To: Jethro Tull (#105)
#107. To: mehitable (#82)
#108. To: who knows what evil (#84)
#109. To: Axenolith (#86)
#110. To: Axenolith, lodwick (#88)
#111. To: Axenolith (#90)
#112. To: Axenolith (#92)
#113. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#102)
just 2cans and a string.
#114. To: rowdee (#113)
#115. To: Jethro Tull (#104)
#116. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#106)
Right and the Title on FR s/b "You have to be under 40 (IQ)"
#117. To: rowdee (#109)
Diesel was a 'waste' product, normally selling for well below gas (like maybe 8 or 9 cents) and how, I think it is higher than gas.
#118. To: Itisa1mosttoolate (#114)
#119. To: HOUNDDAWG (#3)
Mom sent me to the pharmacy with a note to buy paragoric.
#120. To: Indrid Cold (#119)
Mom sent me to the pharmacy with a note to buy paragoric.
#121. To: Jethro Tull, Christine, Zipporah, robin, Zoroaster, BTP Holdings, Arator, Brian S, A K A Stone, Steppenwolf, Bub, mugwort, bluegrass, Bill D Berger, FormerLurker, Uncle Bill, Dakmar, Flintlock, Neil McIver, tom007, aristeides, Burkeman1, Diana, (#0)
#122. To: rowdee (#109)
I can remember gas wars when gas that was usually selling for 15 or 16 cents a gallon would get all the way down to something like 8 or 9 cents a gallon.
#123. To: lodwick (#117)
Yep. It should be 25-35% below gasoline prices...in a honest market.
#124. To: Hmmmmm (#120)
Somehow it seems that it was easier to get consent then from Mom or Dad than it is now from your Uncle Sam.
#125. To: SKYDRIFTER (#121)
I guess I shouldn't mention monitoring the Russian nuclear fallout with a geiger counter
#126. To: SKYDRIFTER (#121)
#127. To: Axenolith (#122)
S&H green stamps
#128. To: Jethro Tull (#127)
Didn't they get steak knives or something??
#129. To: Indrid Cold (#119)
#130. To: Axenolith (#122)
#131. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
#132. To: rowdee (#129)
#133. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
Grandparents on Pop's side at the POW Ball in 1947...
#134. To: Axenolith (#122)
#135. To: rowdee, Axenolith (#130)
S&H Green Stamps!!! LOL................and weren't there some called Blue and Gold, or maybe that was a 'local' thang!
.
.
.