Petty Vents

[buckytom]

I was thinking about getting some stretch laces for a pair of casual shoes I wear in the winter. I like the idea of slipping into and out of them without the need to tie/untie the laces all the time.

My daughter buys them at a discount shoe store (Payless) for my grandson.

we allowed our son to wear sneakers with a velcro strap for many years since he refused to learn how to tie his shoes. (notice he's "our son" and not "my boy"" when there's a problem? )

he could tie a trilene knot, a double half hitch, and a sheet bend from the time he was 6. but shoes? no way jose'.

he eventually capitulated but i'm not sure if it was worth the battle. ya gotta pick the ones that matter, or start 'em out right before they know there's an option.

 

[Andy M.]

we allowed our son to wear sneakers with a velcro strap for many years since he refused to learn how to tie his shoes. (notice he's "our son" and not "my boy"" when there's a problem? )

he could tie a trilene knot, a double half hitch, and a sheet bend from the time he was 6. but shoes? no way jose'.

he eventually capitulated but i'm not sure if it was worth the battle. ya gotta pick the ones that matter, or start 'em out right before they know there's an option.

My grandson had velcro sneakers when he was younger. I was all for them as I didn't have to tie his shoes all the time. It made him self-sufficient rather than relying on an adult to dress him. Now his footwear is a fashion statement so the closure method is secondary and he uses the stretch laces. He may never learn how to tie shoelaces. That's OK. he'll never learn how to use a dial type phone or a VCR either.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Reminds me of the birthday when someone gave my nephew a digital watch. His disparaging remark, "They think I don't know how to tell time!"

 

[Addie]

That day when they finally learn how to tie their shoes was always a big day in our house. I remember when my daughter learned, she kept untying and tying her shoes for anyone who would watch. Spike learned in school in the first grade. I guess the teacher was tired of tying shoes during her day, so she took the time to teach everyone how to do it. Bless her heart.

 

[buckytom]

i remember extorting my aunts and uncles when i learned.

my sisters taught me how to tie my shoes, but when my aunts and uncles would come to visit , i let each one "teach" me, then mention that another relative offered me a quarter if i tried really hard.
when i tied the laces successfully in front of them, cha-ching!!!

if i pretended to try all day then finally succeed just before they left, we were talking paper money.

true story.

 

[Aunt Bea]

This conversation made me think of the old shoes for boys called "mousetraps" or "grasshoppers". The shoes had a leather covered lever that you pulled up, put your foot in and then snapped the lever back down.

 

[Andy M.]

Aunt Bea, I had a pair of those shoes!

 

[Addie]

i remember extorting my aunts and uncles when i learned.

my sisters taught me how to tie my shoes, but when my aunts and uncles would come to visit , i let each one "teach" me, then mention that another relative offered me a quarter if i tried really hard.
when i tied the laces successfully in front of them, cha-ching!!!

if i pretended to try all day then finally succeed just before they left, we were talking paper money.

true story.

Extortion and bribery! I am impressed!

 

[buckytom]

that's not even close to some of my "business dealings" when i was a scout in 6th or 7th grade.

we were hiking up mount washington in n.h. on one summer trip and just after we had learned the laws of supply and demand at the end of the school year, i put my new found knowledge to work.

my mom always over packed my first aid kit whenever i went camping (i coulda performed minor surgery with it). so halfway up the mountain, many of the boys started to get nasty blisters on their feet from their shiny new hiking boots.

realizing i had several packs of moleskin (enough to re-make a dozen moles), first aid salve, and my feet were fine, i quietly sold the stuff out of my tent at night to those with weary feet. the stuff works so good to cover blisters i was certainly learning the demand aspect.

i think i was selling it for like a dollar per square inch, or at least 2 king sized candy bars. salve was extra.

it worked like a charm for a few days until the scoutmasters found out and made me give the money back. well, how much money that i told them i had.

when the assistant scoutmaster (a high school student and eagle scout) came to collect the money, i noticed his labored gait as he approached me from the other side of the campsite.

he had blisters!!! needing the moleskin badly for himself, i cut him in on my business. he got free moleskin and a tube of salve, 1/2 of the candy, and 40% of the money.
it was really about 20% after skimming. i thought i invented thst, but little did i know i was just fulfilling a joisey tradition.

that was a great trip and i learned a lot. supply, demand, how to tip someone to go fill your canteen from a half mile away, and so on.

interestingly enough, that eagle scout grew up to become a congressman from the great state of massachusetts.

i gues i taught him how to "play ball".

and everyone thought i was going to grow up to be a lawyer, but that didn't happen.

i have some decency in me. gimme a break.

 

[Addie]

And to think you missed your calling. A Shylock! Damn that conscience!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

some[/I] decency in me. gimme a break.

What do you call twenty sky-diving lawyers? ----- Skeet!
Ok, it wasn't that funny.ermm:

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[buckytom]

What do you call twenty sky-diving lawyers? ----- Skeet!
Ok, it wasn't that funny.ermm:

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

yes it was.

i'm starting go infect you. mwahahaaaa.

 

[Addie]

yes it was.

i'm starting go infect you. mwahahaaaa.

Yeh, it was Chief. Even The Pirate had a good belly laugh. I am proud of you.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

we allowed our son to wear sneakers with a velcro strap for many years since he refused to learn how to tie his shoes. (notice he's "our son" and not "my boy"" when there's a problem? )....

We have a braniac for a son. 140+ IQ, AP classes, college scholarship for academics, honors college...and to this day he cannot tie his shoe laces the traditional way. How does he tie them? Bunny ears! Ah, God love 'im - I know I sure do.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Reminds me of the birthday when someone gave my nephew a digital watch. His disparaging remark, "They think I don't know how to tell time!"

Our son's first real girlfriend could not read an analog watch to save her life. The car he was driving had an analog clock. If Katie didn't have her (digital) watch on when they went out, Goober would drive her nuts as to whether or not she'd be home in time for curfew. She was an honors class student too. What is it with the elite smart? They just can't function in the real world...

 

[CarolPa]

I recently noticed that my 6 year old grandson has learned to tie his shoes. I don't know when he learned, who taught him or how he ties. I'm just glad I don't have to do it for him. His father is from the generation who wore high-tops and never tied his shoes, although he did know how. He ties them now, and I don't really know when that changed. Probably when he realized that he's now an adult.

I hope I live to see my grandson become a teenagers. I'm so curious as to how my son is going to handle it when his son starts to do some of the things he did when he was a teen. DH calls it payback! LOL He didn't get in trouble, but he did some things that were very annoying!

 

[Addie]

Our son's first real girlfriend could not read an analog watch to save her life. The car he was driving had an analog clock. If Katie didn't have her (digital) watch on when they went out, Goober would drive her nuts as to whether or not she'd be home in time for curfew. She was an honors class student too. What is it with the elite smart? They just can't function in the real world...

I worked for an atomic engineer. Absolutely brilliant. Dumb as a clump of dirt. I used to put his plane ticket in his jacket handkerchief pocket. Then I would have to make him look right at me while I told him and pointed to where his plane ticket was. And I would keep his briefcase open beside my desk. I would hear him mumbling that he had to take this document, or that one, and I would get it and put it in his briefcase. When he was ready to go, he would tell me he had to get his papers together for his briefcase. These documents were top secret. I would lock his case and then have to tell him where I put the key. This was a routine every single Friday as he headed out to visit the NRC in DC.

 

[Kayelle]

Grrrr...

I walk into one of the two chain drug stores we have in town and ask where are the shopping carts. He answered we don't have them anymore. "Why not? "I say. "Because everybody keeps taking them" says him. "Why don't you get more"? "Because they cost a lot of money" he says. I say "I planned on spending a lot of money here, but I'll go to the other drug store that has shopping carts."
Guess who's writing a letter to Rite Aid Drug Stores Inc. ?

UPDATE: I got a call this morning from "Ernie" the local store manager. He said the corporate office told him to call me about the new shopping carts being on order. When I asked when they would be delivered he said they had been on back order for some time. I thanked him and told him to call me when they arrived, but until then I'll be shopping at CVS who has lots of shopping carts. Then he told me the hours he worked and that he would be happy to carry my purchases around the store for me. Life in small town USA.

 

[Dawgluver]

UPDATE: I got a call this morning from "Ernie" the local store manager. He said the corporate office told him to call me about the new shopping carts being on order. When I asked when they would be delivered he said they had been on back order for some time. I thanked him and told him to call me when they arrived, but until then I'll be shopping at CVS who has lots of shopping carts. Then he told me the hours he worked and that he would be happy to carry my purchases around the store for me. Life in small town USA.

LOL! Something about the squeaky (shopping cart) wheel getting the grease...

Way to go, K!

 

[Addie]

For a few items that I may be buying in CVS or Rite Aid, I just use the little hand basket. If a 12 pack of paper towels or toilet paper are on sale, then I will get a shopping cart. At the Rite Aid in my community, there are five steps. Now steps are a BIG barrier for me. And the store is so small, that there is no room for carts. But if there is anything I need on the second level, I will ask an employee to go get it for me. They understand the barrier that the stairs presents for me. Very rarely does Rite Aid have any On Sale bargains that I am interested in. But for the few times there have been, they are always on the second level and I let the employee do my shopping. That is what they are there for. The shopper.