Lessons can be learned from the older generation. . .
By: Prissie
I know you just can’t wait to see what this old woman is about to rant on today. People often talk about old wife’s tales and I am very guilty of this. But there is another area that you can learn a lot from and that is old sayings or small pieces of advice.
They say things that can be said in fewer words take more salt to the wound than those that drag it out to cover an amputated leg. My dad (you knew that was coming) said 1,000,000 times if he said it once, “A cussing is the cheapest thing you can give someone.” Of course, I had to ask details about what he meant. In simple terms, it means it shows your limited vocabulary, your lack of proper raising, and your disregard for others who may not appreciate that kind of language. He hit the nail on the head. I can remember growing up and by no means was I ‘sheltered’ but there were certain words, that were just not said or even thought. Now, it’s part of our everyday language.
Social media will sensor comments on opinions they disagree with, but they will allow the most vulgar language in the world to be all over the place. Another one that comes from the sitcom Hazel (and yes the last new episode of Hazel was in 1966 but thanks to ROKU, I can watch it every day and I do. Hazel said, “Minds are like beds, they don’t stay made up.” How true is that! Take this challenge – change your mind to erase the filthy words out of your mouth. What about supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and the shock it brings will have you forgetting why you were so upset or mad to use that vulgar language to begin with. But sadly, I will say those words are not used only in anger but as part of some people’s everyday language.
Another Hazel episode deals with always telling the truth and how it’s wrong to lie. So, every time someone in the Baxter family told a lie (white, brown, purple or whatever) they had to give Harold a quarter for his cash register. A few episodes later, Hazel had a parking ticket on her car and was so upset over having never had a ticket and ruining her perfect driving record that she had a failed chocolate souffle. The dad, George Baxter (and an attorney) said not to worry, he would take the case. It was $2 ticket but according to Hazel, it was the principle behind it. They went to court and since young Harold was with her, he had to testify. The prosecutor was questioning him about what could happen if he told a lie and he popped up, “Hazel says there’s only one place it’s okay to lie.” Well, the prosecutor thought he had him on the money and said, “Oh, so Hazel says it’s okay to lie sometimes.” Harold was as quick as a tornado responding, “In one place, the bed!” The judge thought that was pretty sweet. Just so you don’t miss anything, Harold also said it was okay to steal – in baseball.
Times change, people change and it is not always for the better. Look at your life today (for those over 30). Think how different mealtime is at your house than when you were growing up. We ate as a family every day. Do you see phones in adults and children’s hands? Do you see paper plates and everyone headed to the trash can to dump the plates instead of to the sink and/or dishwasher? What do the meals look like? Prepared from something that arrived in a box? Are you eating meat from a local vendor or farmer and vegetables from the same choices? I hear a lot of criticism from the younger generation who have all the answers that generations before have NOT been looking out for the future. “WE” are the reason the earth is ‘messed up’. For the record, we ate off plates, drank out of glasses, ate with real forks, spoons and knives and my mom and grandmothers went to their grave having never owned and operated a dishwasher. I had a dishwasher when I lived in Houston, and I can count on one hand how many times I used it. I don’t do noise and I’ve never encountered a silent dishwasher.
Second challenge, I think you can handle two in one column, sit down to at least one meal a day, interruption free. Ask your children, your spouse, whoever is eating at your table, how their day was, what good things they encountered during the day, what was not so good. So many times, we communicate with our children and grandchildren electronically and we never hear their voice, leaving out the opportunity to pick up on things that can only be noticed face-to-face or verbally. They say Latin is a dead language – I wonder if the author of that statement has been in some of the homes in America lately. If they have, they can change that statement for sure.
Put your phones down, enjoy a meal and it’s okay if it’s peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – you make it a picnic but whatever, call it interacting, socializing or conversing with your family, but for sure you can call it love! And that’s all there is from Prissie this week!