JOHN STOSSEL: Last Sunday, Mother’s Day, made me think how my mom warned me, as a young teen: “Work hard! Or you’ll freeze in the dark!”
Sometimes, the warning ended, “Or you’ll starve in the cold.”
She grew up during the depression. She and her peers were sensibly worried about freezing in the dark.
The message scared me, and I worked hard in school.
When I got my first job, I always put some pay in a savings account, even when (OK, it was long ago) I made only $132 a week. I feared a bad future, and I wanted to make sure I could support myself.
This wasn’t all good. I’ve probably been too anxious all my life. I missed out on things. I didn’t contribute to charities until I was in my 40s.
But fear of “freezing in the dark” made me persevere. I studied when I didn’t want to. Then I took a job that frightened me.
I’m a stutterer. Stuttering is now among disabilities covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I wonder, had the ADA been law when I started in TV news, would I have struggled as hard to overcome my stutter? Would I have had the career I’ve had? Probably not.
The TV station wouldn’t have hired me. Once the ADA passed, my stutter makes me a member of a “protected class.” The station, reasonably, would have viewed me as potential poison.
That’s because if they fired me because I didn’t work out, I might sue. I could have accused them of failing to “accommodate the disabled,” as the law requires. Even if I didn’t win, the lawsuit would be expensive. It’s safer for employers to avoid members of “protected classes.” keep reading
I get the message. It was a message that was often spoken, and well understood. Shoulder to the wheel. Nose to the grindstone. Don’t be a shiftless layabout and expect to be taken care of.
Which is where Democrats come in.
Be lazy. Be stoned. Sleep until noon. If you vote for us we’ll take care of you as long as you spend an hour once every few years in order to insure our reelection and your meal ticket.
This is the definition of mafia corruption.
My mom told me to wear clean underwear, in case something happened, like a car accident or something and she was concerned that, that was the priority in life.
Sounds crazy, but there’s a certain level of inherent pride there and self respect.
She was born in 1922 and lived her teenage years with her sister in The Depression. Depression over? Then WWII starts. Funny, but not funny, how those things worked??
Thanks mom, I miss ya!
@PHenry ~ the Mafia ain’t got nothin’ on the US Congress … at least they’re honest about robbing you
Youngest of Ten: Sounds like my mom (born 1918),
you know that tree in the illustration reminds me of a …. oh, nevermind … where’s Sybil’s avatar when you need one?
btw, ever notice how your (my) ADD kicks in when your boss/teacher starts droning on & on?
ADD … it’s not a handicap, it’s a sanity mechanism
To Ghost and Tony R – can you imagine? They survived the Spanish Flu too, and Influenza after that, The Depression, WWII and the Cold War, the turbulence of the 60’s?! I was born right around the Chinese Flu in ’68.
Now? They are stuck in darn nursing homes, kept away from their loved ones? I know I know separation.
I am GLAD my mother DIED before this bullshit and my sympathies go out to all that are dealing with that now in their lives. It wasn’t easy then, now or… well forget about the future, you will have to have your temp taken in the future to see a loved one.
To Youngest of 10 – old school, the best types of learning.
But I ain’t in no ways tarred of keeping my boot on your neck. I never tire of that.
Makes me as happy….as a little girl.
Whenever people tell me “don’t work to hard” in their goodbyes somewhere. I ask why? How do you think you do great things? Not working hard and waiting for it to fall on your head? Don’t work to hard, the government will feed ya.
something I’ve always told those that work w/ me & those that have worked under me is that any job worth doing is a job worth doing right
my mom & my dad, both instilled that in me … time after time
As Bill Cosby used to say: I used to get the “wear clean underwear in case you get in a car accident” from my Grandma. Of course, if I actually got into a car accident it wouldn’t be clean anymore. Fist you say it, then you do it.
Youngest of Ten
MAY 14, 2020 AT 9:47 PM
“My mom told me to wear clean underwear, in case something happened, like a car accident or something…”
…as a former medic, I can definitively tell you that your starting point doesn’t matter because, if it’s a real good accident, your underwear ain’t gonna be clean anyway…