sarals 

What?

;~)

miss kenton

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.

trackhub

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.

bengreen79

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

miss kenton

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."

berner

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.

BlazingPedals

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.

Wake

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.

CHAS

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.

downtube42

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

oilman_15106

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.

sknhgy 

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

DX-MAN

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.

Kurt Erlenbach

Your mother is exceptionally wise.

sknhgy 

See a doctor and get rid of it.

Shimagnolo

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

Artkansas 

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"

earth2pete

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!

ModeratedUser150120149

If you lived somewhere cold your story would be different

DnvrFox

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

NOS88

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.

Old School

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

skilsaw

"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.

Grillparzer

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.

earth2pete

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.