Things Your Parents Said

Does or did anyone else here have to tip profile their parents? My father was a notoriously stingy tipper. What few times we ate at Bob's Big Boy, I think his policy was to round up to the nearest dollar. As a kid, I had no idea what tipping etiquette was, but as an adult I had to find an excuse to always be the last to leave the table at a restaurant, if he offered to pay, to supplement the tip.

Quote: Wizard

Does or did anyone else here have to tip profile their parents? My father was a notoriously stingy tipper. What few times we ate at Bob's Big Boy, I think his policy was to round up to the nearest dollar. As a kid, I had no idea what tipping etiquette was, but as an adult I had to find an excuse to always be the last to leave the table at a restaurant, if he offered to pay, to supplement the tip.

My dad had to be warned, have it explained to him. The first time he used one of those table-kiosks, well, I used it for him. I put in a proper tip, 15-20%, I forget what exactly, in that range. My usual range. I was probably lucky I didn't have to walk home! Other times my mother would catch and warn him.

It was all about leaving the same tip as in 1978. Once he was going to tip a pizza guy too low, $1-2, I stepped in there and flat out told him, "The 80s are over!"

Quote: AZDuffman

My dad had to be warned, "

I never saw my dad in a tipping position.
We never ate out, it wasn't an option.
My dads idea of dessert was a 14 cent
can of apple sauce. Often served right
out of the can.

Long distance? Only saw it once, when
his mom called about his grandpa
dying. Conversation was about 90 sec
with my dad sweating bullets about the
cost.

The longer this thread goes, the more I know what a great man my father was.

Maybe because his childhood was so hard?

A more honest or honorable man, I've never met.

After I really screwed up once, kind of in the footsteps of my brother, my dad told me something that has since stuck with me. And I had to share it with my son once.

He said, "ain't no one can hurt you like your kids".

Quote: petroglyph

The longer this thread goes, the more I know what a great man my father was. .

My dad never drank, rarely cussed,
never hit us (my mom was the hitter)
never yelled, was home from work
at the same time for decades. He
had a chair by a window where he
read paperbacks for hours every
evening.

But, he had quirky ideas about money,
about a wife's place in the home,
about sex. But his whole generation
was like that. My parents were always
there, they were dependable. But
they had little interest in what we did
in school or after school. Just stay out
of trouble and it was cool. But that's
how they were raised.

Quote: Evenbob

he had quirky ideas about money,
about a wife's place in the home,
about sex.

your parents had sex? lol

I can remember realizing humans had sex, basic biological 'must be', after realizing first what was going on with animals. But my folks? Those two? no way! not sure how old I was, but it definitely took that sequence of realizing what the deal was.

Quote: odiousgambit

your parents had sex? lol

I never heard or saw them, but my sister
did once. A story I didn't want to hear.

Quote: Evenbob

I never heard or saw them, but my sister
did once. A story I didn't want to hear.

Even now if my wife talk about the fact we might still have a sex life my middle age boys run from the room.

Quote: Evenbob

My dads idea of dessert was a 14 cent
can of apple sauce. Often served right
out of the can.

My dad would not put anything he cooked on a plate to serve, just put pots and pans on the table. Eventually us kids complained. He was just too lazy to put a dish in the dishwasher. For "setting the table" he just threw all the silver down, in a total mess. He took little care in making dinner.

Quote:

Long distance? Only saw it once, when
his mom called about his grandpa
dying. Conversation was about 90 sec
with my dad sweating bullets about the
cost.

So after college, mid-1990s, I am living at home as I am on a 2 year training program and then get relocated. I had some LD calls to make. A normal person would say, "figure out the bill and pay me." Nope. Come in screaming like a mafia collector, month after month.

While I never wanted kids because I never desired kids, eventually I decided I was doing the real right thing and breaking the cycle.

Quote: AZDuffman

While I never wanted kids because I never desired kids, eventually I decided I was doing the real right thing and breaking the cycle.

Amen brotha. Feel the same way here. My dad was absentee, no confrontation ever even though I did everything I could to force a reaction, discipline, fatherhood. Never came. I go years now with no contact. I visited him recently due to his poor health (he's 87) at my sister's insistence.

I have no idea how to be a father, and no desire to care/learn it. My dad has never asked why I don't have kids. I'm 54.