...just because someone tells you to!"
My dad taught me that lesson well. Here's how you do it...
When I was 10 I helped my dad work on a lawnmower. It was my grandfather's old riding lawnmower. Dad removed the spark plug and looked at it as I pulled the rope. I didn't know why he was doing that. How could the mower start if the spark plug wasn't in the little hole???
After I'd pulled the rope many times, dad wanted to switch places with me. He said "Hold this" and went to pull the rope. What happened next set me free, in a way. When my dad lightly pulled on the rope, my left side exploded in pain. I jumped (or was thrown) back from the mower. I felt like I'd been shot in the left elbow and shoulder. As I rolled in the grass, I heard my dad chuckling. Then he said, “Now I know the spark plug is getting power and you know not to grab a spark plug wire. That could kill you.” Through gritted teeth I said, “But you told me to!” Dad shook his head and said, “You shouldn’t do something just because someone tells you to.”
Those words made perfect sense! Why should I do something just because someone tells me to??? Of course I shouldn't! Learning that lesson helped me a LOT--especially during the teen years. It allowed me to laugh at peer pressure--which doesn't mean I didn't do dumb things. It just means I only did the dumb things I wanted to do. :D
In my next post I'm going to share a story about why my dad later regretted teaching me this lesson so well--BTW, it had nothing to do with how he taught the lesson. :)
PS - In case you think it was mean for my dad to have me hold that wire: 1) he knew not to pull the cord hard enough to do any damage; and 2) this is a classic, 3 Stooges kind of funny to guys. Not to me, but to any guy who wasn't holding the wire. I've shared the story with several friends over the years and each one busted out laughing. So it's okay if you smiled--and okay if you didn't.
PS II - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!! I wasn't hurt because my dad was an experienced mechanic. To quote him, "That could kill you."
I have to confess I think it was mean, but it sounds like you haven't suffered any permanent emotional damage. I think you should write a book about growing up with your dad. There's certainly plenty of material! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly not my type of humor. About the book, I'm going to share all of the stories with my kids and let them decide if they want to publish....along with stories about their dad (and mom).
DeletePS - No permanent emotional damage, but I haven't ruled out the possibility of neurological issues. I think I was smarter in my youth. :)
I definitely am not the type who would do something just because someone else just told me to. Good for your for having your own mind! Funny dad!
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That's good! W ehave to live with the consequences, so we might as well do what we think is best.
DeleteWWWW ate my comment again. I think I should do a copy of my commment before hitting "publish" next time.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the side of the fence to say that your dad is mean. I still can't shake the shitting of your pet cat incident outta my mind. In fact, I just recalled it again this morning and told my hubz who felt that he is mean too. I guess we can't really get into his psyche to know what he's thinking. That said, w/o the cat incident, I would think that your dad is well-equipped with enough knowledge to know how much to pull and to teach you this lesson in a very memorable way.
Ah Rick... I realised my typo of "shooting". LOL... why did "shitting" even come about? Probably I felt shitty about the shooting of your pet cat incident and also coz www ate up my comment, I was typing in a hurry!
DeleteTo my dad, childhood was bootcamp for life--kids had to learn the hard lessons to be prepared to face the world. He took it a little far with me...I was his last chance to get it right. lol!
DeletePS - I understoof you meant shooting. Although the typo was pretty funny! It reminds me that so often I will wish that certain letters were not so close to each other to allow for specific typos (that are embarrassing). :)
DeleteI'm very excited to explain to you about red Chinese and red native Americans so I've pasted my reply here!
ReplyDeleteHey Rick. I chuckled at your comment because many "Ang Mo" like you often ask us the same question. I will get to what an "ang mo" is later. And no, the adults are not dumb. Hehehe... Here's a mini casual history lesson:
Firstly, I supposed your grandparents mentioned "Red (Communist) Chinese" to refer to those Chinese who follow Maoism (Mao Zedong was the leader then) which is communism in China (derived from Marxism). It could refer to the Red Army or the Red Flag to signify communism. I found these sites very useful with easy to read info:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/china_red_army.htm
http://www.ducksters.com/history/cold_war/communism.php
On native Americans being called "red":
"Ang Mo" means "red hair" in Hokkien and is commonly used in Singapore and Malaysia to mean Caucasians. Back then it was used derogatorily but now it is just a general Hokkien term to refer to Caucasians. I'm not sure why they don't call them "yellow hair" or :brown hair" since there are so many blondes and brunettes too. I read somewhere that their fair skin burned easily in our tropical sun and hence the term "red" was used.
When Caucasians namely the Colonial masters of Asian countries like British, French, Spanish, Dutch came to colonize various Asian countries, the locals do not take kindly to them colonizing us initially and hence came up with that term. Subsequently any Caucasians/fair skinned people from America and Australia would also be generally termed as "Ang Mo" and we mean no harm.
Yup I was awed by the huge doorway to the main hall! I supposed I might not like your story of "what cat tastes like". But I would be curious to know.
I love interacting with international blog friends coz while imparting knowledge, I'm also learning. I read up a bit on why red and Chinese were connected before I could reply you confidently. I hope you enjoyed this mini history lesson!
Thank you, this was very interesting! I'm glad the term Ang Mo has evolved into one that carries no negative intention, just a fact that the person is Caucasian. My grandparents were definitely talking about the communists Chinese with the "red" reference. And I was referring to something different when I said Native Americans. That term now applies to th egroup of people who used to be (and sometimes still are) referred to as American Indians. American Indians have been referred to as "red men" because of their skin color...but it's not red, so I'm not sure how that got started....maybe by someone who was color-blind.
DeleteYour dad sounded like he was a bit of a joker... much like you, except you wouldn't pull that type of stunt on your kids. Or anyone else for that matter, even to teach them a lesson
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rooth. You know me pretty well. Humor that hurts someone is not my style. The only thing that would have made that spark plug incident funnier to my dad and middle brother would have been if I'd been hit in the groin with a football at the same time. :)
DeleteGlad no one was hurt and I guess it's ok for dads to this to their sons. I don't think I'd do that to my kids though I do let them fall or do "dangerous" things just so they know the consequences themselves.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't do things like that to my son (or anyone). It's a different approach to teaching a lesson. I guess it's a matter of where we each draw the line, because you're right that we have to let kids learn some consequences for themselves.
DeleteYour dad sure does a lot of tough love lessons! But they all worked because look how well you turned out, right!?
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
To my dad, childhood was bootcamp for life. Which is true in a way, but he took it to a different level than most. And I'm glad. I mean, I could have done without this spark plug prank, but I learned a lot growing up and that has helped me too many times to count. I think the jury is still out on how I turned out, but thank you! I appreciate the vote of confidence. :D
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