Things you've never done that most everyone else has

[roker]

I enjoy family life quite a bit…but I didn’t have a kid until I was 42. I kinda did a lot of stuff first, actually had the kid on purpose, and I have the time and resources to pull it off. Also there’s just one of them.

People who have four kids by 26 seem to sometimes sorta go crazy and I’m more surprised when they don’t.

and you live in Ann Arbor, so I guess you did something right in your life

 

[skate323k137]

We kinfolk, I’m sure of it.

I never did any of that stuff; it lead me into skating, art, and music.

I was an emancipated minor-slept in the bed of the company pickup truck I delivered pizzas for, Senior year. Luckily the strip mall the pizza place was in had an underground parking garage for tenants.

Dang man.

My dad was a "roof and a bed" kind of guy. You have a roof and a bed, there's some food in the fridge, figure it out... I started delivering newspapers at like 11 years old, until I was 16 and started waiting tables. Actually did both until I was almost 17. Bought my skateboards with my $35 a week from the paper route, or what I could save of it.

In HS I was working at a breakfast restaurant, and at the time if you were employed your high school could use some of that work time to let you get out of some hours time-wise at school.

Early in my Junior year in High school, our assistant principal pulled me aside. She saw my test scores were all good but I had B's and C's in my classes at the time. "I don't get it" She said.
"What? What do you not get?"
"You're acing all your tests but look at your grades. How?"
"I don't do homework. You get me 40 hours a week and you don't pay overtime. I buy my own shoes, clothes, everything... I'm up at 5:15AM delivering papers and then I'm here for 8 hours"
"We gotta get you outta here. You don't need to be here."

We developed a plan that included counting some of my work hours and letting me complete my course work via Correspondence. I could do all the course work at my own speed, I just had to come in for supervised tests and do 2-3 hours of my work at school per day (and turn in my time sheets from the restaurant). It probably kept me from dropping out, or at the best, having a horrible GPA and being miserable in school for another year and a half.

 

[Tarma]

Never watched a single episode of Game of Thrones.

Never played Mario 64.

 

[wataru330]

@ skate-That’s what’s up. After a crucible like that, MEPS and basic must’ve been a cake walk.

I think I mentioned in another thread, my
‘bougie baller not a bum’ homeless hax.

-shower at the Y or HS
-eat at work
-‘camp out’ in work pickup until stacked enough loot for flat
-no days off…wear a suit early am in business district/courthouse patting my pockets like I left the house without change for the meters. Minimum wage was $4.25/hr. I could triple that in 30 mins on a busy Friday.

I lost my place to live, as a kid. Never lost my dignity, or work ethic.

 

[NeoSneth]

Plenty of youth today who can’t read a clock.

It’s wild.

This is real. My teenage niece has to slowly count it out like she's just learning to read. She can do it, but you'd think she was solving algebra in her head.

 

[skate323k137]

@ skate-That’s what’s up. After a crucible like that, MEPS and basic must’ve been a cake walk.

I think I mentioned in another thread, my
‘bougie baller not a bum’ homeless hax.

-shower at the Y or HS
-eat at work
-‘camp out’ in work pickup until stacked enough loot for flat
-no days off…wear a suit early am in business district/courthouse patting my pockets like I left the house without change for the meters. Minimum wage was $4.25/hr. I could triple that in 30 mins on a busy Friday.

I lost my place to live, as a kid. Never lost my dignity, or work ethic.

Homelessness was always a huge fear of mine. When I was 21 or so I was living with a guy paying him rent for my bedroom, but he stopped paying the landlord. That was some shit, but I found a new place.

The work at a restaurant and eat at work trick is one my wife and I talk about often when recalling our younger days.

Edit; I was never in the Army, I was a contracted armed FEMA guard after hurricane Katrina, but not enlisted in the US army.

 

[neo_mao]

Is it true that in the US you can graduate high school and not know how to read?

 

[skate323k137]

Is it true that in the US you can graduate high school and not know how to read?

If you're really really good at sports, or the district is tired of holding you back grades heh

 

[Shito]

I've cut my wife's hair since we met. She's more frugal than me on stuff like that. She buys 1-2 tee shirts a year, Life is Good, and a pair of jeans and sweats every 2-3 years. No makeup, no jewelry and she remains gorgeous. 4 kids, I cut all of their hair. I'm certainly not trained, but I don't think it's a complicated thing either. I don't besmirch anyone paying for it, just something I don't get. I'm pretty confident my kids will do the same.

Once upon a time I wrote a lengthy post here about my Wahl buzzcutter I bought on Amazon 20 years ago. $15 and works as well today as it did the day I bought it. I've also left an Amazon review on it.

Here's my kids Christmas Eve, fresh off of home hair cuts the day before:

Spoiler:

View attachment 62507

If I'm allowed to express a simple but honest opinion, you sound and seem like a wonderful person, with a wonderful family you truly deserve. I wish you all the best of the best! :-)

As for me, I never got drunk. I never smoked anything, not even just to "try it" or to show off when I was a kid, and so on...

...also, my wife is pretty much like yours when it comes to no-makeup, no jewelry, having her hair cut twice a year. And I find her to be gorgeous and lovely as I did the first time I met her, 19 years ago. Here in Italy we used to have this saying, "a water&soap beauty", for very unsophisticated and fair ladies. I do believe human beauty is a matter of pureness, thus not in need of any sophistication, that is. :-)

 

[kernow]

Is it true that in the US you can graduate high school and not know how to change your own bedding and do your laundry?

 

[kernow]

As for me, I never got drunk. I never smoked anything,

Me either! High five

 

[Shito]

Never watched a single episode of Game of Thrones.

Also, I don't have a TV, nor I've had any since I was 18 (and that's 28 years ago).

 

[StevenK]

Also, I don't have a TV, nor I've had any since I was 18 (and that's 28 years ago).

Umm, why did you join a video game forum dude?

 

[Shito]

I beg your pardon, when I say "TV" I mean any tv-set hooked to anything capable of receiving broadcasted signals and such.

Monitor screens I always had 'em. :-)

 

[Shito]

Never eaten Japanese blowfish - https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18065372

Never been to Japan or a proper Middle Eastern country - only Dubai airport and not sure if Morocco counts

Me neither ever had "fugu", despite having been in Japan like eleven times. But seriously, there's no need to eat a fish/dish which mey possibly be poisonous just because someone else tought you that's supposed to be a delicacy, no. Thus being pricey too. In a country rich with healthy, tasty and cheap food? I gladly pass. And so I did.

 

[Takumaji]

True story: Once a customer came in to our annual new year's eve fireworks sale, looked around silently for 10 minutes, then picked up a 12-pack of crackers...

Customer: "Are these crackers?"

Me: "Yes, nice and loud firecrackers, 12 pieces, 4 Euro per pack"

Customer: "How many crackers are in that 12-pack?"

Me: "Uhm, 12 pieces..."

Customer: "Oh no, that's too many for me"

turned around and left the shop.

My colleague was standing next to me and there were other customers around. First there was 10 seconds of silence, then we laughed our asses off.

 

[Tarma]

True story: Once a customer came in to our annual new year's eve fireworks sale, looked around silently for 10 minutes, then picked up a 12-pack of crackers...

Customer: "Are these crackers?"

Me: "Yes, nice and loud firecrackers, 12 pieces, 4 Euro per pack"

Customer: "How many crackers are in that 12-pack?"

Me: "Uhm, 12 pieces..."

Customer: "Oh no, that's too many for me"

turned around and left the shop.

My colleague was standing next to me and there were other customers around. First there was 10 seconds of silence, then we laughed our asses off.

Ha ha ha. Reminds of a time when I was working at my father's car dealership many years ago.

It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, fellar walks in the showroom, maybe late-50s, early 60s. Asks about one of the cars. So I rattle off the basic features and...

Me: "And every new model comes with a three year, 60,000 mile warranty and three years breakdown cover"

Customer: "Breakdown cover? What do I want that for?"

Me: "Um... piece of mind against the unexpected?"

Customer: "If it's going to breakdown I don't want it."

Then promptly walks out. To this day I haven't figured out whether he was just on a wind up or was just plain retarded. Every manufactuer offers breakdown cover at new... I've worked with some of the best recognised manufacturers for reliability, and they still go wrong, tis the nature of the beast.

 

[NeoSneth]

Is it true that in the US you can graduate high school and not know how to read?

I have a childhood friend who is functionally literate. He barely passed high school with very very poor grades. D- in pre algebra as a Senior. He made up for a lot of grades with non-writing classes like cooking and shop, etc...

He can read, but he doesnt read like you or I. It's like everything is Kanji to him. Words are symbols. Without context clues he cannot read some words. Like "Archipelago" he would interpret as any long word that starts with "A", but he had no idea what that word is by itself.

He also has very very very bad face recognition. We would be at a bar, and he would walk back from talking to someone and say " I dont think that was Brad was it?". and I would have to tell him it was not. It's real weird too. You can show him pictures of Mel Brooks and Mel Gibson side by side. Very different people, right?. Put them away, then show him just one. He couldn't tell unless you told him something about the person.

He is an IT network engineer, that is fairly successful. No degrees. Very few certifications. He is just amazing at copying stuff from the web.

 

[Shito]

I never owned an NES

Same here. I skipped from Intellivision directly to MegaDrive, what a leap.

 

[Lagduf]

I have a childhood friend who is functionally literate. He barely passed high school with very very poor grades. D- in pre algebra as a Senior. He made up for a lot of grades with non-writing classes like cooking and shop, etc...

He can read, but he doesnt read like you or I. It's like everything is Kanji to him. Words are symbols. Without context clues he cannot read some words. Like "Archipelago" he would interpret as any long word that starts with "A", but he had no idea what that word is by itself.

He also has very very very bad face recognition. We would be at a bar, and he would walk back from talking to someone and say " I dont think that was Brad was it?". and I would have to tell him it was not. It's real weird too. You can show him pictures of Mel Brooks and Mel Gibson side by side. Very different people, right?. Put them away, then show him just one. He couldn't tell unless you told him something about the person.

He is an IT network engineer, that is fairly successful. No degrees. Very few certifications. He is just amazing at copying stuff from the web.

Sounds like has some undiagnosed developmental or brain issue.

There are people who can not recognize faces and sometimes it’s related to a TBI but not always.

The brain is crazy.