• Terms of Endearment

    From George Pope@1:153/757.2 to All on Fri Dec 10 09:13:19 2021
    I'm taking a quicjk poll, & hope y'all will help me out.

    What did your parents(each) call each other when you were a child?
    What decade, &b how old were they? I'll give mine first to set the model

    1970s
    Mom called Dad "honey" or by name, more rarely.
    Dad called Mom "Dear" usually; "sweetheart" once or twice & very rarely her name.

    To us kids, they referred to each other as "your mother/father" (like "Just wait
    until your father gets home" & "What did your mother say when you asked her?" (busted!)

    They were in their late 20s, early 30s. I was a wee lad, not yet a tween.

    Your friend,

    <+]:{)}
    Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.2)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Tue Dec 14 07:16:12 2021
    CP wrote --

    What did your parents(each) call each other when you were a child?
    What decade, &b how old were they?

    Good question, wish I had a good answer.
    I honestly don't recall. I imagine things like dear, honey, etc.
    This was in the '50s.
    I always called my mother "mother". Well, except for one time when I was around 11 and called her by her name, Hilda. Quickly learned to not do that again. :)
    My father was "Doc". He was a GP and what everyone called him, including family members. My mother called him that when referring to him by name.
    When talking to me and referring to the other it was Mother and Father,
    "ask your Mother/Father..."
    My brother was always Charles, through his friends called him Mack, short
    for Mackey.
    My sister Mary was always called Sissy, even by her friends.
    But heaven help you if you where called by all three names! "William
    Joseph Mackey, you come here right now!" Or my brother (12 years older than I from mother first marriage): "Charles Wiley Fontaine Mackey, come here!"
    My sister, from my fathers first marriage, but only 10 years younger than
    my mother.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757.2 to JOE MACKEY on Wed Dec 15 13:30:12 2021
    CP wrote --

    What did your parents(each) call each other when you were a child?
    What decade, &b how old were they?

    Good question, wish I had a good answer.
    I honestly don't recall. I imagine things like dear, honey, etc.
    This was in the '50s.

    They wewre ensconced in [popular tv sitcoms. . . & have become the default terms we all picture as being of the era. Just gotta watch any "Leave it to Beaver" rerun. I'm waiting for the reboot of it.

    I always called my mother "mother". Well, except for one time when I was around 11 and called her by her name, Hilda. Quickly learned to not do that again. :)

    Oh, yes, that hadn't changed by the time I was 11 in '78.

    I was a full-of-**** teen, run away, & needed some thiung from the parents for a legal request. I phoned; my mom answered & I said, "Hello, Mrs. Pope, may I speak to Mr. Pope, please?"; the phone dropped (swinging from the built-in jack) & a few minutes later my dad came on, MAD, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY TO YOUR MOTHER TO MAKE HER CRY?"

    I think I repeated it & the call abruptly ended without my having stated my purpose.

    From then on, all negotiatopns were done differently, by my dad -- no more deep & quiet patience; now he pushged for some sort of conclusion to everything. He repeated, not quite as adamantly as before that I always have a home & there's no reason for me to be placed by the Ministry of Child Services, as I have a perfectly good home already.

    Now I really weas afraid to move back in! (some thing in his look told me a rightful(I knew this, as I was raised t know the difference) reckoning for hurting his wife was coming)

    I was 17 by then, so it was now all pro forma, as on my 19th birthday all could legally wash their hands of this troublemaking punk. (So glad I've outgrown that phase! It was bad!)

    My father was "Doc". He was a GP and what everyone called him, including family members. My mother called him that when referring to him by name.

    Cool! Big city or small town?

    When talking to me and referring to the other it was Mother and Father, "ask your Mother/Father..."

    Identical to my own experience from parents raised in the same era.

    My brother was always Charles, through his friends called him Mack, short for Mackey.

    Never Charlie or Chuck?

    Try ythis one on people:

    Ask, "Is Charlie short for Charles?"

    (you can then note the # of letters in each)

    My sister Mary was always called Sissy, even by her friends.

    Cute. Didn't know that happened outside of literature.

    But heaven help you if you where called by all three names! "William Joseph Mackey, you come here right now!" Or my brother (12 years older than I from mother first marriage): "Charles Wiley Fontaine Mackey, come here!"
    My sister, from my fathers first marriage, but only 10 years younger than my mother.

    This wasn't really a thing for my mom. Maybe once, likely trying it on for size, but normally our first name was used (George, Greg, or Betty didn't leave room for confusion)

    My sister was born Elisabeth (with the S so she couldn't be easily nicknamed Lizard) but we all called her Betty, til about age 8(hers) when she pointed out that her name was ELISABETH. (foot stomp implied)

    Through high school she evolved to Liz, where she is now & also part of the name of her accounting business.

    I think I'd've gone more for "Lizard's Breath" than just "Lizard" (with love, of course!)

    I got all my sibling rivalry needs out with my brother & doted on my baby sister! (by 6 years)

    My brother I called all the vulgar names my peer set called each other, but more unkindly intended. . . & he called me likewise, if out of whacking distance. . .

    It took he & I 20 years(mostly estranged) to become brothers who could be in the same room together, but we'd missed too many younger years to have nicknames, so just called each other by bname, when needed.

    He lived with me for about a year when between vocations, before flying over to Seoul to teach English conversation. (missed 9/11, & the global airports shutdown, by only 1 day!)

    I have no firm opinion on 9/11; just still wondering how it was that in a fire so hot it burned the indestructible 'black box' to ashes, there survived to be found the same day, at Ground Zero, exactly two cardboard/paper passports, both conveniently of those two hijackers.

    Also, why did the CNN live reporter, reading the teleprompter, say, "& from the west comes another airplane, aiming for the towers. . . it hit Tower 7, Tower 7 is engulfed in flames (all timed to this happening, even though no plane hit Tower 7, as it had been shot down over Ohio by the USAF, after the Pentagon had been hit & they became aware of the ruse of using commercial liners as weapons & this 3rd plane heading for the Twin Towers wasn't responding properly to USAF radio queries.

    No firm opinion, as data still lacking, but definitely questions that arise from the facts.

    No corroboration on another fat rumour, that the pilots were filmed basking on a Cuban beach a week after 9/11. (yes, those were the 2 identified as the pilots of the first 2 Twin Tower jets, but no firm date identification for the video. so I'll keep it in the "rumour" file for now. . .

    Conclusion: a very crappy day for the passengers of all jets that were hiujacked (1 Pentagon & 3 for the Towers) & a cvrappy life for the families of them all, including those working in the Twin Towers that disastrous morning.

    The stunts pulled off by the extreme right (including utter renmoval of personal rights with the Patriot Act) could be logged as opportunistic post- 9/11, not necessarily as evidence of motive for the event.

    I'm leaning towards that, as this would entail a far larger conspiracy than JFK, & I know you can't keep that many people silent on a giant secret involving thousands of dead Americans.

    Tghe JFK event involved 2 deaths. & could possibly have all conspirators vested in keeping the secrets out of self interest. Can't see that for the 9/11 event.

    I hope this is far enough back that it's not "current politics" & is more looking back. . . (I won't say with 'nostalgia,' but definitely as a memory)

    Your friend,

    <+]:{)}
    Cyberpope, Bishop of ROM
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Linux
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757.2)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Fri Dec 17 09:13:28 2021
    CP wrote --

    I was a full-of-**** teen, run away

    I was the good child.
    My 12 years older (Mother's first marriage) brother was the wild child.
    He hung around with semi-greasers, into things like drag racing on city streets, etc.
    My father got many middle of the night calls from the police and
    sheriff's department after had been caught drag racing. He was never arrested, just
    "held".
    After awhile my father got tired of this and told them to keep him
    overnight, tell him nothing, and he would be by in the morning to get him.
    That night in jail stopped a lot of that.

    From then on, all negotiatopns were done differently, by my dad -- no more deep & quiet patience;

    My father never raised his hand to me.
    My mother OTOH was known to direct a well aimed smack to the back of my
    head or my bottom from time to time. I usually learned after the first time not to do that particular thing again. :)

    I was 17 by then, so it was now all pro forma, as on my 19th birthday all could legally wash their hands of this troublemaking punk.

    I was always told when I reached 18 I was on my own.
    And two weeks after high school graduation I was on a east bound train
    from Colorado to do just that.
    And I have never depended on anyone after that. (Except for a job, paid housing, etc).
    My mother taught what I needed to know to be independent and self
    reliant.

    My father was "Doc". He was a GP and what everyone called him, including family members. My mother called him that when referring to him by name.

    Cool! Big city or small town?

    Medium size.
    Huntington at the time had a population of about 80,000 people within the city limits. Many have fled to the suburbs and neighbouring states (lower
    tax reasons mostly) starting around 1960 when the decline began but the metro tri-state pop. is around 100,0

    My brother was always Charles, through his friends called him Mack, short for Mackey.

    Never Charlie or Chuck?

    Nope.
    He dislikes being called Charles, just as I dislike being called William
    (or any variation of that).
    His son was named Charles but always went by Chuck.
    (Charles is an old family name on my mothers side, her father was
    Charles). William is an old Mackey family name and inflicted on some innocent child over the years. My father was William. Probably one reason he went into medicine so he would be called D

    My sister Mary was always called Sissy, even by her friends.

    Cute. Didn't know that happened outside of literature.

    That was a nickname my brother (also named Joe, who was killed in the
    Pacific in 1945) who was two years older than she called her since he had trouble saying Sister as a little boy. ("Leave my Sissy alone" instead of "Leave
    my sister alone").
    But Sissy was a tough old bird who could handle herself, being a tomboy
    and all.

    It took he & I 20 years(mostly estranged) to become brothers

    Mack and I aren't close either. When I was eight he was married and on
    his own and by 10 I was an uncle.
    He and Leona were high school sweethearts and still together after 63
    years.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Fri Dec 17 12:37:00 2021
    Joe,


    I was the good child.

    So was I...you didn't have the monopoly on being good. <g,d,r>

    That night in jail stopped a lot of that.

    Sounds like what happened to my brother when he got stopped for DWI.

    My father never raised his hand to me.

    Mine did...and with the belt in it.

    My mother OTOH was known to direct a well aimed smack to the back of
    my head or my bottom from time to time. I usually learned after the
    first time not to do that particular thing again. :)

    Experience is the best teacher.

    I was always told when I reached 18 I was on my own.

    As soon as my brother reached 18, he moved out. I moved out when I got married, but moved back in to what was my parents house a little more
    than a year before my Mom died.

    He dislikes being called Charles, just as I dislike being called
    William (or any variation of that).

    Just don't call you "Late For Dinner". <G>

    But Sissy was a tough old bird who could handle herself, being a
    tomboy and all.

    I never knew it took women forever to get ready, and they had to "sit
    for everything" in the bathroom...because I grew up with a brother.

    Mack and I aren't close either. When I was eight he was married and
    on his own and by 10 I was an uncle.

    "Your cousin had a baby, but we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, so
    I don't know whether you're an aunt, or an uncle". <G>

    He and Leona were high school sweethearts and still together after 63 years.

    That's fantastic. This coming Monday would've been my parents 69th
    wedding anniversary, had they lived.

    Daryl

    ... Man swallows frog. Doctors fear he might croak.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Sat Dec 18 09:35:58 2021
    Daryl wrote --

    As soon as my brother reached 18, he moved out. I moved out when I got married, but moved back in to what was my parents house a little more than a year before my Mom died.

    I lived into the same building as my mother my first year of college, in
    an apartment on the floor above her.
    Then when I moved back here I stayed at her place about a month until I
    found an apartment.

    But Sissy was a tough old bird who could handle herself, being a tomboy and all.

    I never knew it took women forever to get ready, and they had to "sit
    for everything" in the bathroom...because I grew up with a brother.

    Sissy was 25 years my senior (father's first marriage) and more of an
    aunt than a sister. She had been on her own for years, married and separated, etc.
    She only lived with the family that time from 1958-63. She moved to the
    DC area in November, 1963, and other than a Christmas card that year never
    hear from her again. Until I read her obit a few years ago.

    He and Leona were high school sweethearts and still together after 63 years.

    That's fantastic. This coming Monday would've been my parents 69th
    wedding anniversary, had they lived.

    His son Chuck has been married to the same woman for about 40 years.
    His daughter married once and a widow since '01.
    Joe

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Ron L.@1:120/616 to JOE MACKEY on Sun Dec 19 08:37:40 2021
    JOE MACKEY wrote to GEORGE POPE <=-

    My mother OTOH was known to direct a well aimed smack to the back of
    my head or my bottom from time to time. I usually learned after the
    first time not to do that particular thing again. :)

    Bill Engvall did a joke along the lines of:
    When I was 12, I had ADD for about 10 seconds. My dad was yelling at me for something and my mind wandered off for a moment.
    *SMACK* And it cured my ADD for good.

    My mother taught what I needed to know to be independent and self reliant.

    Same here (just more people taught me). I'm amazed at how many dependant people I see today.


    ... I'm not worthless. I can always serve as a bad example.
    ___ MultiMail/Linux v0.52

    --- Mystic BBS/QWK v1.12 A47 2021/09/29 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: cold fusion - cfbbs.net - grand rapids, mi (1:120/616)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to RON L. on Mon Dec 20 05:13:38 2021
    Ron wrote --

    When I was 12, I had ADD for about 10 seconds. My dad was yelling at me for something and my mind wandered off for a moment.
    *SMACK* And it cured my ADD for good.

    The rulers the nuns had up their sleeves in school taught me that as
    well. A light smack across the knuckles ended those daydreaming periods.

    My mother taught what I needed to know to be independent and self reliant.

    Same here (just more people taught me). I'm amazed at how many dependant > people I see today.

    I think a lot of that comes from "helicopter parents" who swoop down at
    the first bit of problems their child has and blames the other person not
    the child for the problem.
    Children, as they do grow, go from complete dependence on others (new
    borns to about five), then have a independence streak where they want free
    from their parents and restrictions from about five or six though their teens. They want to do what they want
    A good parent will teach their kids actions have consequences, for good
    or bad.
    Kids need to learn they can't have everything they want but too many
    parents give them things, rather than love. And sometimes tough love.
    They begin to believe they are entitled, by simply being alive, they are owed things and throw temper tandems if they don't get their way.
    I see this as a generational thing. Today's generation of young people (with exceptions) as having a mass temper tandem and no one is willing to
    tell them no.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Mon Dec 20 10:53:00 2021
    Joe,

    I see this as a generational thing. Today's generation of young
    people (with exceptions) as having a mass temper tandem and no one is willing to tell them no.

    Sounds like the tagline below. :P

    Daryl

    ... I'm NOT spoiled!! AM NOT!! AM NOT!! AM NOT!! AM NOT!!
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)