Fifty Plus (50+) - So, how did the things your parents warned you about as a kid turn out?

Did you go blind?

Did you trip over your untied shoelaces?

Are the folks in Africa less hungry because you cleaned your plate?

Did you catch your "death of cold?"

and what else were you warned about and how did it turn out? (I know, it is still cold here, and the 35 mph winds are discouraging me from a ride this pm. So, just a bit bored!!)

Well, as it turned out, little Mary was indeed a little sl@t...

Well, eating my vegetable did indeed help make me strong.

Keeping things neat and clean does in fact make it easier for me to find my bike tools when I need them.

Buying the best tool I can afford for the job, seems to make the job a bit easier.

I must say however, that I still don't come in out of the rain.

Oh, yeah. I also stepped on many a cracks and my mother's back is just fine.

I never got those cramps from swimming right after eating:thumb:

Well, as it turned out, little Mary was indeed a little sl@t...

Which reminds me: One of the few pieces of "advice" (which is sort of like a warning, right?) my Dad gave me that I can remember verbatim was "Get involved in theater, it's a great way to meet girls."

Sure enough, I met the woman who eventually became my wife while on tour with a musical theater production in Europe!

I did not go blind. I ran and benefitted from running daily, even though my relatives said not to do it because I am an insulin dependent diabetic.
I learned not everyone speaks the truth - not even the woman you are in love with and married to.
I learned that older folks cannot be trusted any more than folks under 30.
I also learned that my Mom was right: you have to solve your problems and decide what is right for you - just don't break laws or give the family a "bad name".

The people at the Emergency Room never saw my underwear, and they never seemed like the kind of people who would care much about them. Also, looking around at others in the ER waiting area, I think even my dirtiest would seem pretty clean by comparison.

My wife says she did not chase the ball into the middle of the street and therefore never got hit by a car!

To be honest, I only remember 3 pieces of advice my mother gave me before I left home:

1. "Pride goeth before a fall." (don't be too proud).
2. When you go to college, you have to study a little bit every day. You can't catch up at the end of a semester if you don't work steadily along the way.
3. Don't invest anything in the stock market you can't afford to lose.

She was right on 1 & 2; I think she was wrong about #3.

My wife further states that she never got pregnant by standing too close to a man in a street car (at least she doesn't think so) :) This was truly told her by her teenage friends.

Did you trip over your untied shoelaces?

No, but I remember worrying that if I stepped on the end of my shoelace that I wouldn't be able to raise my foot because the shoelace would hold my foot down and I wouldn't be able to loosen my shoelace because my foot had it trapped.

My face never stuck while making one of those silly expressions, but I didn't temp fate, either. :innocent:

I've trusted many white people successfully.

My tongue never got torn off while touching cold metal!

Gosh I heard the thing about swimming and eating also. Never ever had a problem with violating it and I still do. When telling people about swimming long distances alone, they always warned me about drowning because of a cramp. I don't get cramps. So I have yet to drown myself, but there is still time to mend that one.

People would tell me that something that they knew (usually admonitions) and they would say "when you get to be my age, you will know". At the time, I suspected that it was malarky but I did not have a counter. Now that I am older than they were, I KNOW that it was malarky.

I poked my eye out playing with a stick (metal garden stake) when I was seven. Actually it missed the eye, but severed the optic nerve. So I am blind in one eye.

* She said if I don't study I'd end up being nothing but a "Ditch digger"!

Well that would certainly be a step up from Chemical Plant Operator, I never should have listened to her and often wish I could operate heavy machinery and dig in the dirt. Had she paid any attention to all the bridges and roads I was building in the "Dirt Pile" (unseeded area behind the garage), she might have used her domineering parenting style to guide me towards construction. Unfortunately, I suspect she looked down on Blue Collar labor.

* Oh, though I haven't gone totally blind yet...the prognosis isn't good (AMD).

* I don't wear shoe laces....too fat to bend over and tie them...good old velcro! :lol:

From John Lennon's Aunt Mimi...It's all very nice playing the guitar, John, but you will never make any money at it!"

Glad he listened as well as I did.

Actually, I have tripped over my untied shoe laces. Most shoes come with laces that are far too long. My dress shoes are slip-ons, so I don't have to tie them. I tie my casual and hiking shoes in double knots. My bike shoes use velcro.

I was allowed to drive a car,





eventually.:innocent:

Gosh I heard the thing about swimming and eating also. Never ever had a problem with violating it and I still do. When telling people about swimming long distances alone, they always warned me about drowning because of a cramp. I don't get cramps. So I have yet to drown myself, but there is still time to mend that one.

People would tell me that something that they knew (usually admonitions) and they would say "when you get to be my age, you will know". At the time, I suspected that it was malarky but I did not have a counter. Now that I am older than they were, I KNOW that it was malarky.

Never even came close to cramps because of eating. But when I was in Highschool the guys in my swim team workout would go to the beach after workout. I once got multiple cramps. No big deal, as long as one limb worked I had little trouble getting where I needed to go.

Excessive workout was the source of the cramps, and that training meant cramps were no problem.

A bit after I ceased being a kid, my workaholic father told me, "You'll never hear someone on their deathbed say, 'Gee, I sure wish I had spent more time at the office.'" I think it was his way of telling me to not lose sight of what is important. I managed to put his advice into practice when my son was born. While there have been times that I have missed the career opportunities I threw away, I have never regretted my decision to scale back the amount of time I devote to work.

You don't get a paycheck for the most important jobs you do in this life.

I haven't gone blind (at least, not yet) but I do have to wear glasses now.

Most of the ones my parents told me have been spot-on. One that I passed on to my kids that seems to be true is "Never ask you doctor, especially your psychiatrist about the street-value of the drugs he's prescribing you."

I never got into trouble by spending time with troublemakers. I ended up keeping them out of trouble. And they were very entertaining.

What?

;~)

The only warning I remember my mother issuing me was when she used to say, "If you are naughty, you have to go live at the home for bad girls. They make you scrub floors and wear a stocking cap!" Other then having limited appeal as a fashion accessory, I never understood why having to wear a stocking cap would be such a horrid fate.

* She said if I don't study I'd end up being nothing but a "Ditch digger"!

Here in the bay state, "Ditch Diggers", (I suspect they have a much cooler sounding title now) for the state DPW are unionized and make something like $22.50 an hour.

The Ditch Digger line was used my school officials as well. "If you don't pass French, you'll wind up as a Ditch Digger". Well, I've totally forgotten any of the French I did manage
to learn, and I've never dug a ditch. Shoveled plenty of snow lately, but no, no ditches.

I never poked my eye out. Never had my face "stick like that". Never "went blind". Ate all the food on my plate, but people in certain parts of the world are still starving.
And I'm told many school districts don't even bother to teach cursive writing anymore.

Despite hours of sitting/standing too close to the TV, I haven't gone blind.

Here in the bay state, "Ditch Diggers", (I suspect they have a much cooler sounding title now) for the state DPW are unionized and make something like $22.50 an hour.

The Ditch Digger line was used my school officials as well. "If you don't pass French, you'll wind up as a Ditch Digger". Well, I've totally forgotten any of the French I did manage
to learn, and I've never dug a ditch. Shoveled plenty of snow lately, but no, no ditches.

I never poked my eye out. Never had my face "stick like that". Never "went blind". Ate all the food on my plate, but people in certain parts of the world are still starving.
And I'm told many school districts don't even bother to teach cursive writing anymore.
A friend of mine with a young son asked his teacher when they were going to learn cursive, and was told, "Oh, you'll have to teach him that at home. We don't teach that anymore.":eek:

My dad told me "you are known by the company you keep". Had he not warned me of this I might have become a tycoon or worst, a politician.

My tongue never got torn off while touching cold metal!


When I was in Alaska, it was great sport for the local kids to initiate a 'cheechako' by daring him to put his tongue on the chain link fence. It worked every time. Well, every time a dummy kid actually did it. The teachers always had a glass of warm water available to go rescue him from the brats.

My dad never verbalized it, but he demonstrated that if you smoke a lot, drink, don't exercise, and over-eat, that you won't make it to retirement. He didn't, succombing to a heart attack at age 65. I paid attention, and just retired at nearly 66. I'm commuting regularly by bike, and enjoy being healthy.

My parents told me that if I ever got a girl "in trouble" they would take her and the baby in and send me away.
Fooled them. My boyfriend says that will never be a problem.

My parents never warned me about anything. I was #8, and they had given up.

Something about getting under a desk or table to save yourself when the Ruskies are going to turn your town into a glass parking lot.

One thing my mom used to say that did turn out true: "You don't always make money on real estate". Man was she right.

No one ever warned me that I would go blind. Perhaps I was too busy to pay attention.

Can't even recall HEARING words of wisdom from Mom. She was too busy trying to re-mold me into her psychological clone.

This was AFTER she chased Dad out of my life for some of my most formative years. And when I did finally re-unite with Dad, he didn't have much in the way of life advice. He was too busy treasuring each moment.

I've trusted many white people successfully.

Your mother is exceptionally wise.

I've trusted many white people successfully.

See a doctor and get rid of it.

I learned to listen to all my parents advice, then do the opposite.
It worked out very well.

My mother was not your typical Mom, but her words of wisdom always rang true. Here are a couple.

"Rules are made to be broken."

"When you wander around, carry a clipboard, it will make you look official"

dad told me, 'you plan for a lot of things in your life, but the things that happen are not the things you planned for.'

but he told me that just last year, age 85. looking back, it rings true. now i'm hoping those unplanned things turn out to be wonderful!

:D

My tongue never got torn off while touching cold metal!

If you lived somewhere cold your story would be different:cry:

If you lived somewhere cold your story would be different:cry:

My tongue never got torn off while touching cold metal because I was smart enough not to try that!! :P

If you play with fire you'll get burned. Well, she was right about that. When I was a kid. I picked up a Toledo Highway smudge pot that had been burning all night and got second and third degree burns over most of both hands. It was almost a full year before I complete use of all of my fingers.

My folks encouraged me to live by the "Golden Rule" (do unto others...) and it was wise advise -- most of the time!

"Lay down with dogs and you get up with fleas."
"You are known by the company you keep."

I'm spending 9 hours per week serving soup and sandwiches to street people. It is set up so we have time to listen and interact with them. I was touched deeply this evening as I pieced together a crackheads life story from his disjointed rambling.

If I didn't "Cut my hair, get a job, and join Toastmasters" I wouldn't amount to anything. I retired last year at age 55 and have no debts but my bicycle is worth more than my car.

The people at the Emergency Room never saw my underwear, and they never seemed like the kind of people who would care much about them. Also, looking around at others in the ER waiting area, I think even my dirtiest would seem pretty clean by comparison.

I have it from a reliable authority that they will laugh at you though.

"Don't stick forks in electrical sockets." With a warning like that you know I had to try it.

"Don't stick forks in electrical sockets." With a warning like that you know I had to try it.
don't you know it! in science class back in '76, we had desks with electrical outlets in them. of course, in mid-lecture, i had to fold a piece of gum-wrapper foil into a stick, put one end in the outlet, then bend the other end into the other part of the outlet using my pencil.

great science experiment for a homemade electrical fuse. poof, all that was left was a puff of smoke, rising accusingly above my head.

:D