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How did it affect you?The term "going postal" recently reminded me that when I was a kid, a friend of my father was killed in one of the first shootings. He worked at a post office. 1982.I'm only now realizing how this affected my life and decision to go into the criminal justice field.What are any experiences that affected your life trajectory? Sometimes negative can put you on a positive life track.
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#1
It's unfortunate but the situations that hurt us are the ones we most remember. I have two:
First - I was about 5 when an uncle who happened to live next door to me played a prank on me causing me to be humiliated. The thought it was hilarious; me not so much so. At his funeral, that's what I was thinking about.
Second - Not the same uncle but a different one (my mother had several AH brothers) held my kitten up in the air and allowed his boxer dog to jump up and snarl at it like the dog was going to eat my kitty. At his funeral, both my sister and I sat there thinking about what a horrible person he was.
When you're an a*s, it makes impressions on others.
Final score:
10points
TheMFKNXerdo 3 weeks ago
Someone does this to one of my cats, and I miss the funeral because I caused it. I hope those uncles died of untreatable bowel and rectal cancer in a puddle of their own waste and blood, and took a few years agonising before finally going to hell.
RELATED:
#2
My house was robbed on Christmas, twice. Once in 86, the second in 91. We went from being relatively comfortable economically to broke.
Once, they took even the front door when we were on vacation. Then, when we came back home, the place where we had stored our remaining belongings was also robbed. We wound up even losing that house because of financial crisis.
Also, our neighbour knew the people who robbed us but refused to tell my father their whereabouts.
In 1991, the day the Soviet Union fell, our house was robbed a second time on Christmas. I had just gotten Super Mario 3 that day, and fortunately, it was not stolen.
My parents kept wanting me to take long vacations, but even today, I am very anxious leaving the house alone, more so now that I take care of my elderly mother and my cats.
I cannot take a full vacation without anxiety, and it got to a point a few years ago that I had anxiety attacks even leaving to go to work, after our house got broken into twice again. Once when I was out working (I suspect a neighbour), someone took all of my mother's valuables. Once, when I was asleep, and I caught the robber and fought him until I was able to push him out the door.
I almost got arrested because the cops were adamant that "there was no robber" and I was high or drunk. I had to show them my security cameras.
They did nothing, because ACAB.
Final score:
8points
#3
I remember the moment I learned my mother was going to die like it was yesterday. The way she looked at me, tone of her voice, and the way everyone--mom included--exited the room post-haste. Two years later, a few weeks before I turned 13, she passed. My father broke the news to me just before dinner. I had suspected it was coming because by then the cancer had damaged enough of her brain that she didn't even know who I was, but was still a gut-punch.
Final score:
8points
I Dunk My Caramel Milk Chocolate In BBQ Sauce 3 weeks ago (edited)
It's a very sad part of life, having something or someone you love wither away.
#4
I'm 57 now, so this happened 50 or more years ago. I knew from age five or six that I definitely wanted to marry, and did not want kids. Some things you just come here knowing.
I was with my grandmother running an errand, and this older person stopped this new young mother and asked how everything was going. Her words were all gushing and happy... but her entire body screamed tiredness and I could hear the lie from 10 feet away.
Then as a teenager, I visited someone, and for some reason, she felt compelled to tell her birth story, which included her *forgetting how to breathe*! All of this and more just kept reinforcing to me that pregnancy and birth were things to be avoided. No regrets.
I'm glad now that we can talk about these things openly. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I thought it highly suspicious that ONLY positive things were said about pregnancy, birth, and parenthood, and nothing negative could ever be said, so clearly there was a lie of omission around all of it. That's untruthful. It's not the whole truth. Times have changed for the better and I'm glad we are talking more about every part of it, as we always should have.
Final score:
8points
JK 3 weeks ago
I so get you! I'm in my mid 50s and learned after doing "baby sitting" gigs all day on a Saturday that I was not going to have kids. In community college I actually did a survey of female students about their attitude towards women who CHOOSE not to have kids and it was a mix of "its your responsibility" to "jealousy of the freedom". I disdain the word "childless" because it should be "childfree". The former insults those who do not make the choice while the latter is more accurate for people who actively make the choice.
#5
Many, but this is one that I often use as an example. Report card day in high school. I brought home a report card that had 3 C's. Everything else, A or B. But three C's. My father looked at me and said, and this is a word for word quote:
"Get out of my sight. I don't even want to look at you. You make me sick."
Final score:
7points
I Dunk My Caramel Milk Chocolate In BBQ Sauce 3 weeks ago (edited)
C is not bad! Don't beat yourself up, it wasn't an F.
#6
I have one I have been thinking about a lot recently. When I was younger Mexican was just becoming popular in our town (mid 80s). Everyone loved it and my folks liked to meet up with my uncle's family for dinner on Friday nights. Well, one Friday they decided to hit up this "new" Mexican restaurant. While we were there a gentleman at the table beside us had a heart attack and died. Paramedics pronounced him DOA and took him away. To this day every time I smell Mexican food I'm taken back to that moment in time when someone died right behind us. It's still a family joke that the service was so good the waitress stepped over the body to bring us our food.
FYI, I don't like Mexican food
Final score:
5points
TheMFKNXerdo 3 weeks ago
Taco Bell tried to open a couple of restaurants in Monterrey and Mexico City, and so did Pancho's in Guadalajara. If that was the Mexican food in question, I'd prefer the heart attack too. HMU if you come to GDL and I'll hook you up, Captain.
#7
I was sort of scammed into believing I was actually swimming well on my own. We had a pool in an apartment complex we lived in when I was about 6 years old. I always struggled to gain the courage to keep my legs up when swimming. I managed to get the courage to do that in this pool and found myself swimming across to the other end of the scary deep end of the pool. My mom was surprised and impressed.
This was also an unsupervised pool, so no lifeguard. My mom recently told me that the mgmt didn't want to risk accidental drownings, or easily, so they added a TON of salt into the pool, making you more buoyant. This explains why people were able to almost do somersaults on top of the water off the deep end and could float on their backs effortlessly. When I try to swim in fresh water or other pools, I can do so okay, but not super great.
Final score:
4points
JK 2 weeks ago
That is horrible, and have faith that the trauma will fade. Water safety is really important. In the early 1980s, our health class instructor had us pass a boating safety class and we also had swimming classes. It was about 6th grade. Don't be afraid to use a flotation device while swimming. I once dove off of a 25 foot platform and it scared the **** out of me and I will never do it again. Start with the shallow end. Take cliff diving off your list, it is really scary when you are waiting to hit the water. It is like time stops.
#8
I have a childhood memory that is soooooo precious and wonderful. On Xmas eve we had a ghastly Italian fish dinner. Multiple courses. All terrible to a child who didn’t like fish. But my mother promised: if you kids are good we will play Bingo afterwards. With prizes! 1956 and onwards forever.
Final score:
4points
Bored Sailor 3 weeks ago
See I have always loved our Seven fish dinner. My Nona used to do it all, but coming from Italy I do not think she left the kitchen much just the way she was raised. As a young boy I would always help my mom in the kitchen, mostly I cleaned, peeled, breaded and fried shrimp three ways. And squid I miss good squid, because here it is hard to come by, especially fresh.
#9
So you are looking for negative responses?
Final score:
-3points
JK 3 weeks ago
Nope. Anything from childhood can be either. I remember the Christmas ritual of decorating the tree with the same blue and silver bulbs for over a decade. We also always had Sunday morning with Grandma and I reading the funny papers while mom cooked a feast. She was such a horrible cook, sh!t on a shingle when we were broke, that I became a self-taught cooking for one chef. Find something good if you can.
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JK (Post author) 2 weeks ago
That made me laugh. They also eat and "expel" the silver tinsel. Last time I had a Christmas tree, and cats, I only hung the cheap ornaments and cat toys on the lower limbs of the tree. If you really want to mess with cats, sprinkle some catnip under the tree.
Load More Replies... I Dunk My Caramel Milk Chocolate In BBQ Sauce 3 weeks ago
I was too late, but when I was bullied in Y5 and my teachers refused to acknowledge it because she was a poor Jewish Israeli who was quite illiterate and couldn't speak proper English.
DC 2 weeks ago
YOU were ... or the BULLY were ... a poor Jewish Israeli who was quite illiterate and couldn't speak proper English ...?
Load More Replies... R.C. 2 weeks ago
When I was around 11 I contracted beaver fever (giardia). It lasted 3 weeks and I went from 120 lbs to 98 lbs. It was so bad our doctor at the time asked my mom for permission to write about my case in some paper he was writing. Since I hadn't been around any lakes or rivers we were told I most likely contracted it from someone who had used the bathroom and hadn't washed properly and touched a doorknob or tap or something. I most likely came along behind them and ingested the parasite that way. Hearing that I probably ingested someone's p*o particles horrified me and that was the start of my germphobia. I'm in my 40's now and it's still going strong.
JK (Post author) 2 weeks ago
That made me laugh. They also eat and "expel" the silver tinsel. Last time I had a Christmas tree, and cats, I only hung the cheap ornaments and cat toys on the lower limbs of the tree. If you really want to mess with cats, sprinkle some catnip under the tree.
Load More Replies... I Dunk My Caramel Milk Chocolate In BBQ Sauce 3 weeks ago
I was too late, but when I was bullied in Y5 and my teachers refused to acknowledge it because she was a poor Jewish Israeli who was quite illiterate and couldn't speak proper English.
DC 2 weeks ago
YOU were ... or the BULLY were ... a poor Jewish Israeli who was quite illiterate and couldn't speak proper English ...?
Load More Replies... R.C. 2 weeks ago
When I was around 11 I contracted beaver fever (giardia). It lasted 3 weeks and I went from 120 lbs to 98 lbs. It was so bad our doctor at the time asked my mom for permission to write about my case in some paper he was writing. Since I hadn't been around any lakes or rivers we were told I most likely contracted it from someone who had used the bathroom and hadn't washed properly and touched a doorknob or tap or something. I most likely came along behind them and ingested the parasite that way. Hearing that I probably ingested someone's p*o particles horrified me and that was the start of my germphobia. I'm in my 40's now and it's still going strong.
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