Pink Engine Syndrome

[SVXphile]

We joke about the twists and turns of this thread....and perhaps a new one should have begun back there a'ways, but you gentlemen have definitely hit a nerve regarding things that we care about. As a teacher, I hear stories from my fellow teachers that cause us all to worry, but the rural area that I teach in, is remarkable low in violence. The downward spiral of behavior is there, but it doesn't seem to terminate in anything more than fistfights. I am always amazed at the amount of cooperation and good behavior I DO get. West Virginia, contrary to the Hatfields-McCoys stereotype, has the second lowest (was the lowest for years) crime rate in the nation.

....maybe its because everyone is armed to the teeth, and it's best not to mess with your neighbor!

Seriously, you gentlemen have brought up some excellent points that I would like to address later when I have a few minutes.

PS Joe, did you check out those Osca sites I found? I will try the Google approach when I have a minute.

Don

We made the mistake of hiding our Mother's wooden spoons. She came after us with a steel strainer spoon. We returned the wooden ones pretty quickly

Gentlemen? Who you callin' gentlmen? You startin' rumors around here?!

Yeah, right, here we are, a bunch of guys talking about the "human condition" on a luxury sports car message board. Like we ain't messed up or anything

Thanks to all for the intelligent, enlightening exchange.

Now, it's time to go beat the boy!

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by lightning_8669
We made the mistake of hiding our Mother's wooden spoons. She came after us with a steel strainer spoon. We returned the wooden ones pretty quickly

My mother was a "creative spanker." A hair brush, a spatula, a sandal, yard stick, fly swatter . . . she would use the best tool available. My parents usually spanked in anger. I saw the value in spanking but not the method.

We've spanked our children, but, we've used a more methodical approach, and not the "flail your tail" method. Punishment ranged from one to three "whacks." The punishment fit the crime, obviously, the "worse" the crime the more whacks (not to exceed three) were administered. Often times, after administering punishment, I cried more than they did. It was a lesson in "consequences." My daughter, once, when about ten years old, went through a rather rebellious week. We endured it as long as we could, until, she had pushed beyond the limit. She was sent to her room and told to await her punishment. I entered with the 'designated instrument' (a short flat wooden slat, a little longer than a ruler, which we kept in a "special place" for all to see) and administered the two whacks my wife and I felt the crime deserved. I left the room feeling, as always, torn apart for having to be a disciplinarian. About five minutes after, we heard the door to my daughter's room open. She walked down the hall and slowly entered the kitchen where my wife and I were sitting. She sat on the sofa, silently for a moment, then said, "I needed that spanking, daddy. I haven't been nice." I choked back the tears. It was then, that I realized that she understood what consequences for one's actions were. Luckily, the times that punishment of that sort have been necessary, for each of my children, could be counted on one hand with digits left over. They're now in their teens. Ask either of them who their best friends are. They will say, "my mom and dad." To me, that's the best compliment a parent can receive.

[mohrds]

<<I'm curious, as one of the kids that did get a few whoopin's early in life...did anyone else make the mistake of telling his dad he hit like a girl?>>

I did once make the mistake of being cocky and say "Is that all you got?"

Trust me, it wasn't....

There are some interesting points being made here. I can tell you from experience that the people in my neighborhood generally do not raise their kids. There are a few excellent parents, but the majority of them treat their kids like nuisances. You drag the kid back to their house by his ear and tell the parents that they are throwing rocks at smaller kids and they say "oh, ok" or "so?"and they go in the front door and right out the back door to go do it again.

There is a mythical saying in our neighborhood and in many parts of the country that goes something like "It takes a whole village to raise a child" which most parents understand as "society is responsible for rasing YOUR child".

In our local high school, out of 483 freshman that started High School, 67 graduated and sadly there were only a handful of parents at the graduation. As they read of the memorial list of those who died during high school, I thought back to my graduation, We had 1 person who died of cancer and one who died in an accident out of a class of 550 students (of which about 540 graduated). Then the reality check as they read off the list of over 40 kids that had died, mostly from what was listed as "violence".

So this year alone there are almost 400 kids entering adulthood without any high school diploma from one of our 25 Milwaukee Public High Schools. How many others are entering adulthood without a proper education? there must be thousands. That is what really scares me. With the quick depletion of unskilled labor jobs in America, what are these people going to do to earn a living? the options are unfortunately mostly limited to minimum wage part time jobs, or crime.

Sorry to rant on about this, but I think we as a society need to give these parents a kick in the pants and stop the "Dumbing of America".

Doug

This from a guy that plays with computers all day

Just kidding.

A couple of items.

One; having a driver's license is a privilege, not a right.

Two; having children is a right, not a privilege.

We could certainly argue both of these topics backwards and forwards for several weeks but the bottom line is; common sense should override either privileges or rights. In other words, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Me and my wife waited to have children until we were both mature (yeah, I know, someone will argue with that ) enough. We also waited until we were financially capable of raising a child and then only had as many children as we felt we could provide for at, what we believed, a level that would give them the maximum advantage.

Who has the right to decide when and how many children someone should be allowed to have. It's a moral dilemma that can be persuasively argued both ways. I'm not a big fan of abortion but I think the efforts aimed at protesting it could be better utilized in preventing the need for it's contemplation in the first place. But if common sense existed in adequate volumes in the world this whole discussion would become immediately unnecessary.

[eddycat2000]

Originally posted by mohrds


There are some interesting points being made here. I can tell you from experience that the people in my neighborhood generally do not raise their kids. There are a few excellent parents, but the majority of them treat their kids like nuisances. You drag the kid back to their house by his ear and tell the parents that they are throwing rocks at smaller kids and they say "oh, ok" or "so?"and they go in the front door and right out the back door to go do it again.

I've never had children. My first wife lost the only one that I'm aware of breeding. However, had I had them, they would have been well versed in the acts of common courtesy and kindness. Teaching children to read, and watching the proper television shows while explaining what is being done, or said, or pictured, is essential in my obviously skewed judgement. Play with them, and while you do it teach a little lesson, it happens every day and you might not even realize it!

I've known families from years back until very recently that have had 7-8-up to 13 kids, and the dad walks into his house with his lunchbox looking so worn out that he could barely walk. Life ain't easy, but it can be enjoyable...give the little guy a pat on the back when he does something right, scold him when he doesn't. This doesn't have to involve violence, but it does have to involve patience and some learning skills. Sometimes even the dad might need a pat on the back!

We just recently, (dad called yesterday and said he liked our gift), sent my dad a survival kit. It included a cat in the bag that starts shaking and has three different sayings, a fart exstinguisher<SP?>, a can of Spam and 5 packages of top ramen soup. The thing he really liked was the picture I printed for him of the naked lady in front of her computer. He may find the 3 black golf balls with the black velvet labels usefull as he does golf too, he's retired and living in Arizona.

Oh, if anyone wants to see the naked lady, I can e-mail it to you. Prettiest damn woman I think I've ever seen in my life, only rated R though! My wife got mad because I should have told dad it was her, but I know his memory hasn't gotten that bad yet.

Maybe next time I get on this thread I'll tell y'all about the little bitty pit bull puppies across the street. So cute and so funny!

eddydog

???!!!!???Eddycat speaking of patience????!!!!

Ackk! GACKK!!! SOMEONE CALL 911, I THINK WE'RE LOSING HIM! (I'm fading, everything is going black, why am I soooo cooollldd?)

I've never had a weak heart but it skipped a couple of beats there Eddy boy

I hear the forecast for the Devil's workshop is decidedly cooler these days too

And is it an Idaho thing to send naked photos of your wife to your dad for Father's day? Strange custom that.

This is where I remember my manners and say-"Thanks for being a sport".

Pit Bulls huh? I hear they're nice if you like your face bitten off

[SVXphile]

<Ask either of them who their best friends are. They will say, "my mom and dad." To me, that's the best compliment a parent can receive.>

Amen to that...

These have been some amazing posts recently; I have read and reread every one. All that I can say is that I wish all of my students had parents that owned an SVX! I said it on Yahoo, (I believe Aredub said it first) and I'll say it again....SVX owners are the best!

............................

My father was on the road quite a bit as I was growing up. I tended to get all my discipline on weekends. Mother would make a list. Dad wore leather belts. Thin leather belts. The sound of one whistling thru the loops can cause me to make water to this day. Remember Cosby's story about the belt with the meat hooks? He got that from my Dad. He couldn't hit me three times...there wouldn't be anything left!

The thing I appreciate about those times, was the way he would always ask me to explain to him WHY I was about to lose a pound of flesh. I had to identify the rule that had been broken, and recite the predetermined outcome. When he was around, just a LOOK would get me back on the right track. I don't ever remember him being mad at me....just disappointed. I loved him very much.
Don

[eddycat2000]

Originally posted by lightning_8669
And is it an Idaho thing to send naked photos of your wife to your dad for Father's day? Strange custom that.


Pit Bulls huh? I hear they're nice if you like your face bitten off

Now ya just plain wasn't paying attention. My wife said that I should have told my dad it was her! If'n I had a wife that looked like that I'd never leave the house. Now mind ya, I love my wife and I think she's cute...for a 50 YO going through menopause that lectures me darn near every night ! But this woman is the most awesome creature I think I have ever seen, then again that changes in my mind from time to time.

The puppies...too cute, just big enough to fit in your hand, only 4 1/2 weeks old I guess. And the kids also had a tiny white (and I mean pure white) kitten there too. My wife says no puppies until I put up a fence. sniff...

[eddycat2000]

Originally posted by SVXphile
I loved him very much.
Don

Sad ain't it? You only really miss them when they are truly gone, as in having passed over. My dad is in Arizona, that's a bit of a drive from northern Ideeho. But we do talk on the phone occasionally, and e-mail each other a lot. Fortunately for me he married and had us kids while still a very young man, so he should be around for quite awhile.

Having said all the mushy stuff, my wife can't stand the stories I tell her about him from when I was a kid. She just cringes and tells me to eventually stop. But then I gently remind her he was just barely 20 when I was born, so basically he was a kid too. He was hit as a child, so that is what he knew. But lessons can be learned over time, I don't hit things, living things that is. Dad doesn't either anymore, he's oldish and thinking about going to heaven. Me being the oldest, was given the task of taking care of the farm...chopping off the ducks heads, taking my sisters favorite cat out in the back 40 and shooting it because it got caught eating the rabbits I was raising, and of course shooting the baby duck that had hatched with a deformity (gimpy was his name). But you see, I don't live on a farm anymore, nor does dad. He's very kind now, at least he has been to myself and my wife, maybe he's trying to atone for past sins.

Hmmmm....perhaps it's a *good* thing I didn't have kids.

Makes me think it is too bad that they didn't make/sell more of them. Just think how nice the world would be

About Dad's in general, I'm pretty lucky that I still have both parents. My parents started early also, had to run off to Michigan to get married because my Dad wasn't old enough and my Mom was pregnant with my oldest brother. Ooops! The next three sons came in quick succession for a total of 4 in 4 years. They took a 5 year break and had another son and then waited a few more years to try one last time for a girl and had twin boys instead. So there are 7 of us boys spanning 13 years in age. My Mom and Dad did not come from "affectionate" families. Not a lot of holding, hugging and kissing. I try very hard not to deny my son this type of treatment. Of course, he's 6 now and already tries to avoid my mauling him. He makes up for it though.

After a "bad" day, when I finally have him installed in his bed for the night, he calls out to me "Dad?", "What!?", I snap, "I love you" he replies. Talk about mixed emotions. I'm grateful to and for him at the same time I feel like a pit in an outhouse for being so short with him. Of course after I go in his room and maul him again I feel better.

[Ron Mummert]

Lightening - You sound like one of the people out there that has his head screwed on properly. Perhaps the planet will survive after all. Tsu.

[svxxx26]

Originally posted by Ron Mummert
Lightening - You sound like one of the people out there that has his head screwed on properly. Perhaps the planet will survive after all. Tsu.

Ron - Lightening's OK in my book too, but as far as his head being screwed on properly . . . well, let's just say you might want to bring your torque wrench!

Some of you may remember my thoughts on over or under torquing fastener. If a fastener is under torqued it will be able to give you a warning of it's failure (rattle, shudder, etc.). If a fastener is over torqued when it fails it fails outright without advanced warning. While I've never been accused of having my bolts overtorqued this assumes I possess screws in the first place Duct tape, my friends, the fastener of pros the world over.

But to ease up on parenting. Most of us at some point in our lives witness enough examples of proper behavior to know what constitutes "good behavior". A 14 I can still, somewhat, excuse a rude kid. At 40 I have little patience. Especially because someone at 40 is either a parent or grandparent and should be teaching good behavior. Not that us 40 somethings aren't capable of slipping sometimes