Comments on: 10 Things Your Grandfather Was Doing By The Time He Was Your Age

By: Judson

Judson — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:32:40 +0000

Greg,

You are BULLSHIT! What we need around here are more MEN who aren’t afraid to get a little dirt under their finger nails, know they are entitled to nothing and have a gosh darn SPINE!

I am 21, I can fix (upgrade and maintain) my own car and fix items around the house I am renting right now. Why? Because I have taken the time to learn from both my father and my grandfather.

To call bullshit on a list like this shows a complete lack of understand and critical thinking. The times of our grandparents were much, much different and of course not all of the things listed are going to fit every person, but they fit my grandfather’s with utmost certainty.

I love this piece and it brings back great memories! Thank you so much for writing it.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 20:23:25 +0000

Greg, what an insightfully useful comment. Thanks for taking the time to share.

By: greg

greg — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 16:54:00 +0000

numbers 2,7, and 8 are BULLSHIT!

By: InsolentBitch

InsolentBitch — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:28:21 +0000

I loved this. Both of my grandfathers are gone, but this article reminded me of them. Thank you for that.

Oh, and Olivia: What the fuck?

By: Lessons From Grandparents | Small Hands, Big Ideas

Lessons From Grandparents | Small Hands, Big Ideas — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:02:51 +0000

[...] Popo worked for 50 years, tirelessly on the B&O Railroad in West Virginia, they lost two children, then raised three [...]

By: Russ

Russ — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:05:28 +0000

In my grand father’s time there seemed to be a lot more people dying suddenly. Maybe it might have had something to do with the higher incidence of smoking.

Others things from that era include high tariffs, expensive overseas air-travel, fixed exchange regimes & (some) rationing.

Russ

Ben -Ohio State is that P J O’Rourke’s old school?

By: aggh!tea

aggh!tea — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:57:54 +0000

Things my Grandfather was doing when he was my age:
1) Dying of emphysema … sorry, I digress – and note the responses to Oliva, but:
I’ve got to take issue with point 8, namely “When your grandfather was your age, jobs were abundant and paid extremely well, as long as you committed to working hard.” Yep, so we still have abundant jobs, but well paid…. it’s more financially rewarding to stay on welfare then it is to take up a minimum paid job at the moment. Even if you want to be “committed to working hard” you’d have to work 12 hours a day 7 day’s of the week for the entire year to make up the difference (and slaves didn’t work that long).
Second issue is point 7, “being able to fix household items”… well talk about a straw man.. my Dad taught me how to put up shelves, bleed a hot water system and do minor wiring – and still (no matter how many times I explain to him) can he install and keep up to date an antivirus system on his computer…. But when I moved into my new house I had to get my hot water system and wiring checked out by an accredited agent – it’s the system that is dumbing us down not our selves!
.-= aggh!tea´s last blog ..Where Do Yellow Stains Come From? =-.

By: Colin

Colin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:00:52 +0000

Lot of love in the room….

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:05:21 +0000

Olivia, saddled with an insolent bitch like you, one can understand why he was beating your ass. My grandfather was busting his ass in the CCC’s and bringing up a family in which he taught my father there is no time when a man is to hit a woman. Obviously, he never met someone like you. My grandfather and many more like him are the reason you have the right to vote, not to mention the right to open your stupid mouth and prove how ignorant you are. This country was built upon the type on manhood that it seems you despise. My advice to you is, grow up and study to understand what and who granted you the heaven on earth that you take for granted.

If you need crib notes to know who to thank for your freedom to spew your spoiled, skewed mindset, let me offer a starting point; my grandfather, CCC’s 1921-1923, my father, US Air Force 1957-1961, my uncle US Air Force 1963-1967, my great uncle US Army 1942-1952 (DIA), my uncle US Air Force 1957- 1977, my service 1984- 1994, my son, 2009-continuing. I could go on, and on and on, and there is not one case of a man beating a woman, but I think the point that you are a spoiled asshole has been made. So in closing I’ll say, shut the fuck up, bitch!

Good job Ben, I enjoyed your work here.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:10:44 +0000

One of the reasons that your grandfather (and many “men” today) could fix his car, take care of household and appliance repairs, and take care of his family is that he probably wasn’t “obsessed with music, football, dogs and meeting new people”. He had different priorities. Just a thought.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:53:02 +0000

Oh, Olivia, let’s not get all hung up on such minor details;>)

By: Olivia

Olivia — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:37:23 +0000

Except when he was my age, he was beating his wife and children.