My dad and my aunts and uncles on his side were all late-depression-era children. I think we can all excuse them for having some quirks but some of them are pretty funny (and gross.)
My aunt religiously unplugs every electronic device that is not in use. She shuts off the water between toilet visits. She also refused to buy a dryer. She would hang up her laundry in the basement, which later contributed to a mold problem.
My other aunt was SUPER cool but she had this weird thing about using her oven because, in her mind, it was an energy hog. She died a couple years ago and lived in a < 10 y.o. house. The oven had never been used. She got raging mad once when someone made the mistake of turning it on for about 30 seconds. If it couldn't be cooked in the microwave or toaster oven, forget it.
My uncle on that side has some really gross cheap traits. He won't wash sheets until they start changing colors. Disgusting.
Dear Old Dad, may he rest in peace. You all think you love the Cyclones? I guarantee my dad had you beat.
IF we went out to eat, appetizers and desserts were absolutely out of the question. We didn't go to the state fair but yeah, he'd be the dad that would have had me eating snacks out of the car. Constant light bulb patrols, thermostat checks and the like.
My parents made the mistake of buying a heat pump. I think they're better now but back in the 70s they weren't too good. It could barely get the house up to 62 in the winter. When it finally had to be replaced in the 90s and they got a reliable natural gas furnace, his thought was, "Well, we're already used to 62 so, rather than set it at an actual comfortable temperature, let's leave it at 62 and save even more money!" He would NEVER turn on the AC, no matter how hot it was, and doing so was grounds for execution in his mind.
We had an acre yard and he refused to get a lawn tractor. He (and I) mowed it with a push mower, not even self-propelled. Half-hour a day or so just to keep up. The whole yard was never the same length.
This is a doozy: No matter how hard it rained, Dad would keep his windshield wipers on the lowest intermittent setting because he didn't want his wipers to wear out.
Like others, he knew the price of gas at every station in Cedar Rapids, and he wouldn't think twice about driving clear across town to save a penny per gallon.
After he and my mom divorced in 2000, he wouldn't pay for the Gazette because he could no longer get mom's employee discount. He drove to the library every day to read the paper. EVERY day. That's probably where he found out who had the cheapest gas prices too.
Dad refused to buy chilled soda at the store. He was convinced they charged more for it. Maybe back in the day they did, but all he had to do was look at the prices to see they were the same!
Lastly, here are two stories my friends used to love:
We lived just outside of CR and had our own well. One day dad was yelling at me for taking too long in the shower. I said, " You have your own well, your water is free." He replied, "Yeah, well the water pump is ELECTRIC!"
Another time before dad retired we met for lunch at Taco Bell. I ordered a regular combo meal, nothing extravagant, and thought nothing of it. When I got back to the table, he was mortified that I'd ordered "so much food." He had ordered one taco and a glass of water. He said, "You can have a fine meal here for a dollar and eleven cents!"
Yeah, when I have an idea for Friday OT, it's cuz I've got to get some stuff off my chest!
My aunt religiously unplugs every electronic device that is not in use. She shuts off the water between toilet visits. She also refused to buy a dryer. She would hang up her laundry in the basement, which later contributed to a mold problem.
My other aunt was SUPER cool but she had this weird thing about using her oven because, in her mind, it was an energy hog. She died a couple years ago and lived in a < 10 y.o. house. The oven had never been used. She got raging mad once when someone made the mistake of turning it on for about 30 seconds. If it couldn't be cooked in the microwave or toaster oven, forget it.
My uncle on that side has some really gross cheap traits. He won't wash sheets until they start changing colors. Disgusting.
Dear Old Dad, may he rest in peace. You all think you love the Cyclones? I guarantee my dad had you beat.
IF we went out to eat, appetizers and desserts were absolutely out of the question. We didn't go to the state fair but yeah, he'd be the dad that would have had me eating snacks out of the car. Constant light bulb patrols, thermostat checks and the like.
My parents made the mistake of buying a heat pump. I think they're better now but back in the 70s they weren't too good. It could barely get the house up to 62 in the winter. When it finally had to be replaced in the 90s and they got a reliable natural gas furnace, his thought was, "Well, we're already used to 62 so, rather than set it at an actual comfortable temperature, let's leave it at 62 and save even more money!" He would NEVER turn on the AC, no matter how hot it was, and doing so was grounds for execution in his mind.
We had an acre yard and he refused to get a lawn tractor. He (and I) mowed it with a push mower, not even self-propelled. Half-hour a day or so just to keep up. The whole yard was never the same length.
This is a doozy: No matter how hard it rained, Dad would keep his windshield wipers on the lowest intermittent setting because he didn't want his wipers to wear out.
Like others, he knew the price of gas at every station in Cedar Rapids, and he wouldn't think twice about driving clear across town to save a penny per gallon.
After he and my mom divorced in 2000, he wouldn't pay for the Gazette because he could no longer get mom's employee discount. He drove to the library every day to read the paper. EVERY day. That's probably where he found out who had the cheapest gas prices too.
Dad refused to buy chilled soda at the store. He was convinced they charged more for it. Maybe back in the day they did, but all he had to do was look at the prices to see they were the same!
Lastly, here are two stories my friends used to love:
We lived just outside of CR and had our own well. One day dad was yelling at me for taking too long in the shower. I said, " You have your own well, your water is free." He replied, "Yeah, well the water pump is ELECTRIC!"
Another time before dad retired we met for lunch at Taco Bell. I ordered a regular combo meal, nothing extravagant, and thought nothing of it. When I got back to the table, he was mortified that I'd ordered "so much food." He had ordered one taco and a glass of water. He said, "You can have a fine meal here for a dollar and eleven cents!"
Yeah, when I have an idea for Friday OT, it's cuz I've got to get some stuff off my chest!
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