Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[BlueTrain]

My father was a little like that but he was never vulgar. He was not well-educated, either, never having attended high school. He served in the army, drafted when he was about 28, which was a little older than average. He drove a truck most of his life, six days a week. He was also a rural mail carrier, which is little more than a truck driver. He knew a lot of people everywhere but mostly just the people he met in his daily rounds. I disagreed with a lot of the things he believed but I wouldn't argue with him although as my step-mother would say, he would argue a black sheep was white. I'm sort of the same way, or at least I imagine I am. I actually expected even more people at his funeral but he had outlived most of the people I think would have been there. He outlived two wives. It's been almost twenty years now, too.

He was modest and never pretentious. But it is worth noting that not everyone you think is pretentious is pretending. Everything you see is genuine, nothing fake.

 

[Fading Fast]

My grandfather was not the kind of man to deliver "inspirational speeches" of any kind, but I nevertheless found him inspirational. He led a very hard, rough life with no material success in it -- but he was by far the most compassionate man I've ever known. He didn't judge other people, he didn't help only those people who he felt "deserved it," he helped anyone who ever asked him for help, whether it was staking them to a tank of gas when they were broke or filling their oil tank in the winter when he knew full well they'd never pay for it. His point of view was that you were obligated to help those who needed help, and he lived that every day of his life. He died broke, but a turn-away crowd came to his funeral.

He also refused to take life seriously. He had a crude, vulgar sense of humor that he delighted in expressing, without any sense of social pretense. He refused at any time to pretend to be anything other than what he actually was -- and I always admired that of him, and conversely, I've always been just a bit suspicious of anyone who has the habit of delivering "inspirational" homilies.

He sounds like a very special person. I'm glad you had him in your life.

 

[LizzieMaine]

 

[Monsoon]

One thing about military is if you screw up, you won't get fired.
But everyone around will know that you messed up.

"Losing a stripe doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means you f**ked up."

 

[2jakes]

"Losing a stripe doesn't mean you're a bad person. It just means you f**ked up."

Either way makes no never mind, everyone can see you screwed up!

 

[BlueTrain]

You can trust your car to the man who wears the star.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

Airline meals. People complained and joked about them at the time, but I miss them now on long flights.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

Airline meals. People complained and joked about them at the time, but I miss them now on long flights.

I think they're pretty standard on longer international flights. For domestic flights, you can pay for a boxed cracker and cheese "platter" or something like that.

If you long for the first-class gourmet experience of decades past, there's always this:
http://panamexperience.com/

 

[GHT]

Terra firma travel, no problem, whatever mode of transport. Air travel, ghastly. I get in the seat by the window so that I don't have to move, refuse all sustenance, never seen the toilets on an aircraft, I sit strapped in the whole flight, just a few sips of water to stop her nagging. There have been times when I have gone over ten hours on a flight without leaving my seat. But I'm almost bent double to stop the leaks before I can find a "gents" in the airport lounge.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

I love flying. As Superman said, statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel.

I just hate dealing with airports. I'm thinking of ponying up the $85 for the "TSA Pre" thing to cut down on some of the hassle... though on principle I find the whole arrangement rather distasteful, as it just goes to show that things are easier for those with money.

 

[Fading Fast]

I love flying. As Superman said, statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel.

I just hate dealing with airports. I'm thinking of ponying up the $85 for the "TSA Pre" thing to cut down on some of the hassle... though on principle I find the whole arrangement rather distasteful, as it just goes to show that things are easier for those with money.

What's odd, the last time we flew, on the way out, we were "assigned" to the TSA Pre thing - it was heaven - no line, no hassle, but we didn't pay anything as my girlfriend said years ago she just added us to some list (that's all I know, but she said she absolutely didn't pay money to be added). It happens every so often to us - no idea why. On the way back, we were back where we belonged - with the huddling masses.

As to this: "things are easier for those with money[,]" if that wasn't the case, very few of us would bother to work.

And as to airports / flying - it is hateful. But it's the ⇧ money thing again - pay up for TSA pre-check, pay up for business class, pay up for lounge access, pay up for car to and from airport - and the experience is much nicer, but much more expensive.

 

[sheeplady]

I think what irritates people a lot about flying is being treated as less than human. I have to wear a lot of medical grade stuff when I fly and the choice is put it on at home and be treated like a monster (we are talking full pat downs, swabs, answer really invasive questions that are NONE of their business, etc. ) or drag it with me and have to change in the bathroom. Normally I have dragged it with me but lately I've been wearing it and am I treated un-nicely when I do.

I think the idea that I should have to pay money to not get invasive questions like, "why do you wear this?", "what do you mean by 'medical reasons?'", "how long ago did you have cancer?", and my *absolute favorite* "are you Jewish?"

(People of Eastern European Jewish descent have a genetic risk for breast cancer... but that's none of the TSA's business. I only got asked it once and I just stared at the person.)

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ I am fully, 100% supportive of the idea that company and government employees should have to treat the public with a reasonable level of respect. And it goes both ways - occasionally, you'll see someone from the public being incredibly rude to a TSA or airline employee - I have no tolerance for that either.

Airports are close to (but not the worst) at this. You will get a great, thoughtful, helpful TSA employee once in a long while, most are okay (doing their job, not being rude, not being pro-actively nice) and a few (but not as few as the really thoughtful kind) are rude, arrogant, obnoxious, etc. - as you've clearly experienced.

 

[LizzieMaine]

... and my *absolute favorite* "are you Jewish?"

(People of Eastern European Jewish descent have a genetic risk for breast cancer... but that's none of the TSA's business. I only got asked it once and I just stared at the person.)

No matter what the "justification," being asked a question like that by an armed officer at a checkpoint would make my blood run ice cold.

 

[sheeplady]

To be fair, I have been asked the Jewish question in conversation about cancer... normally by someone who is Jewish or married into a Jewish family where BC is present. But they don't have a gun and they normally say, "are you jewish? Because I'm jewish and there's...."

And by my doctors, for which it actually changes my treatment and care significantly. I got the breast cancer gene test because I'm half Polish (Eastern European). When it was negative, i was encouraged to do a genetic ancestory test (like off the shelf ones), because of the importance.

 

[2jakes]

No matter what the "justification," being asked a question like that by an armed officer at a checkpoint would make my blood run ice cold.

When they tell you with a smile,
"funny, you don't look it!"
or
"amazing, you don't show it!"

The scary part is when they are sincere,
and actually believe they are paying you
a compliment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always use Charlie Chaplin's response: "I have not that honor."

 

[tonyb]

Many is the well-meaning but thoughtless person who, on encountering a person in a motorized wheelchair, says something along the lines of "gee, how fast does that thing go?," or, "can you do wheelies in that thing?"

For those who don't recognize the inappropriateness of such a comment, consider how it might go over if, on meeting a person of Chinese descent, you said "is your family in the laundry business?"

What such people apparently fail to recognize is that the person in the wheelchair would take offense at being first identified as a person who uses a wheelchair.

 

[sheeplady]

Never assume someone's nationality. I don't look at all like what my ancestry says I am (or so I have been told on both counts), and my college roommate made the mistake of using several racial slurs that actually applied to my heritage.

She turned white as a sheet when I strung together the few words I knew in that language. I only know foods and profanity, so there's a good chance I insulted her pretty badly.

 

[BlueTrain]

I meet many immigrants in my daily life and I usually inquire about where they're from if I seen them often enough. They nearly always are pleased that any interest was shown in their origin. They are even more pleased, usually, to be asked about some little detail about their country. Naturally, some tact is required but the thing is, there are so many people from so many places here that I can no longer guess where they are from. That isn't true everywhere but it certainly is here. On the other hand, I probably come across as something of a character, too. In any case, everyone always seems happy to see me. One young lady, who is Nepalese, even asks if I have any new jokes when I come in. I told her I write my own material (had to explain that one) and it was good for a five or ten minute conversation.