What did you always wish for but never got?
What did you always wish for but never got?
Think back to when you were a little kid, before you had the ability to just go out and buy what you wanted for yourself. Maybe it was Christmas, Chanukah, or your birthday. But there was one thing you wanted really really badly. More than anything else.
So the questions are:
What was it you wanted?
Why did you want it so bad?
Did you get it when you wanted?
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult?
I may be on the younger side, but for me, what I wanted more than anything else as a young kid was Super Smash Bros 64 for the Nintendo 64. I had played it once at a friend's house and it was the greatest thing ever. I did not get it for Christmas or my birthday, year after year after year. Eventually when the Gamecube came out my parents relented and bought a N64, but Super Smash Bros was so expensive they weren't willing to buy it for me. I had no allowance and they didn't allow me to spend the little money I had on video games. Alas, I finally ended up "borrowing" the game from a friend of mine who had gotten a Gamecube and didn't really care about it anymore. I never gave it back. I bought him dinner ten years later as young adults and we called it even.
So the questions are:
What was it you wanted?
Why did you want it so bad?
Did you get it when you wanted?
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult?
I may be on the younger side, but for me, what I wanted more than anything else as a young kid was Super Smash Bros 64 for the Nintendo 64. I had played it once at a friend's house and it was the greatest thing ever. I did not get it for Christmas or my birthday, year after year after year. Eventually when the Gamecube came out my parents relented and bought a N64, but Super Smash Bros was so expensive they weren't willing to buy it for me. I had no allowance and they didn't allow me to spend the little money I had on video games. Alas, I finally ended up "borrowing" the game from a friend of mine who had gotten a Gamecube and didn't really care about it anymore. I never gave it back. I bought him dinner ten years later as young adults and we called it even.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I wanted a piano and to take piano lessons.
My sister who is several years younger and was born at a wealthier time for our family is the one who got the piano and told to take lessons. She became a musician and music educator and married a music educator and conductor.
My sister who is several years younger and was born at a wealthier time for our family is the one who got the piano and told to take lessons. She became a musician and music educator and married a music educator and conductor.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I wanted a miniature robot like the one on the show Lost In Space. I don't know why I wanted it so bad - I was five. Who knows what motivates a child to want a stupid robot toy. No, I never did get that darn robot. And I'm not bitter!!
Emotionless, prognostication free investing. Ignoring the noise and economists since 1979. Getting rich off of "smart people's" behavioral mistakes.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
My parents made all of us kids take piano lessons (all 5 of us) and bought a cheap upright for that very purpose. I was the only one that stuck with it, playing all through college, and still playing today. In fact, after getting my first job after college and moving into my own place, the second big purchase I made for myself was another cheap upright (the first purchase was a mattress). I hadn't realized how important music was to me, but after a few months of NOT having a piano, I started getting twitchy. My stress levels were peaking and I had no outlet. My wife and I started saying awful mean things to each other. Then we got the piano and realized that we really just needed to get back to doing what we love, which is playing music together.ilovedogs wrote:I wanted a piano and to take piano lessons.
My sister who is several years younger and was born at a wealthier time for our family is the one who got the piano and told to take lessons. She became a musician and music educator and married a music educator and conductor.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I still want a toy robot. I just can't justify the expense.Tycoon wrote:I wanted a miniature robot like the one on the show Lost In Space. I don't know why I wanted it so bad - I was five. Who knows what motivates a child to want a stupid robot toy. No, I never did get that darn robot. And I'm not bitter!!
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I always wanted a beautiful home. Instead I got a cracker box. But, hey, it's almost paid off.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Let's see...
1) Itching powder. It was for sale from companies that sold pranks and gags like "joy buzzers" and Whoopee cushions, like Johnson Smith & Company. My mom kept saying it wasn't safe. I kept pointing out that it said right there in the ad that it was completely harmless. I never did buy any as an adult and still don't know what was really in it or whether it was safe.
OK, now I know what's in it but I still don't know whether it's safe.
I wouldn't buy any now. Actually between the ages maybe 9 and 12 I really did buy a fair number of pranks and magic tricks, but the problem was always who to show them to. Usually I ended up showing them to the neighbors' kids and relatives. Yes, I handed my grandmother a dribble glass.
2) A 35 mm. single lens reflex camera. Actually I had a wide variety of cameras as a kid, and in high school I was given a pretty decent rangefinder camera, a Ricoh 519. The lens wasn't interchangeable, though, and it couldn't focus closer than 3 feet, and all attempts to take real closeups with it were more or less failures due to parallax and so forth. Finally, my first year out of college, I bought an SLR, a Miranda... um... DR?
Wow. It was everything I'd hoped it would be.
I remember the astonishment and excitement when I focussed the lens and not only saw the focus change on the ground glass but saw the slight enlargement and reduction of the angle of view as you focussed in and out. And you could focus right down to 13 inches with no attachments at all. And there was no parallax--one of the first pictures I took with it was a view looking down through the neck of a Coke bottle (!). And you could put close-up lenses on it and they worked because you could see what was in focus and what the field of view was, and you could stick a reverser ring on the lens and get even closer. And, wow! When you pressed the button, instead of that discrete "click" of the SLR, there was a symphony of complicated clicks and flaps, and the camera feeling almost alive in your hand as it quivered with the mirror shake
And then I got several lenses for it. And then I graduated to a Miranda G which not only had interchangeable lenses but interchangeable groundglasses AND interchangeable viewfinders.
Boy, did I have a lot of fun with that thing.
I loaded it with Kodak Microfile film and put it on a tripod and went out and took pictures of a brick wall at various f-stops to see how sharp the lens was.
I loaded it with infrared film and took pictures in which the trees looked as if they had white leaves against a pitch-black sky.
When I got my first telephoto lens I took some pictures of an intramural softball game and the perspective of the long lens make the results look so professional... and the bat looked slightly curved due to its moving while the focal-plane shutter was scanning across the frame.
1) Itching powder. It was for sale from companies that sold pranks and gags like "joy buzzers" and Whoopee cushions, like Johnson Smith & Company. My mom kept saying it wasn't safe. I kept pointing out that it said right there in the ad that it was completely harmless. I never did buy any as an adult and still don't know what was really in it or whether it was safe.
OK, now I know what's in it but I still don't know whether it's safe.
I wouldn't buy any now. Actually between the ages maybe 9 and 12 I really did buy a fair number of pranks and magic tricks, but the problem was always who to show them to. Usually I ended up showing them to the neighbors' kids and relatives. Yes, I handed my grandmother a dribble glass.
2) A 35 mm. single lens reflex camera. Actually I had a wide variety of cameras as a kid, and in high school I was given a pretty decent rangefinder camera, a Ricoh 519. The lens wasn't interchangeable, though, and it couldn't focus closer than 3 feet, and all attempts to take real closeups with it were more or less failures due to parallax and so forth. Finally, my first year out of college, I bought an SLR, a Miranda... um... DR?
Wow. It was everything I'd hoped it would be.
I remember the astonishment and excitement when I focussed the lens and not only saw the focus change on the ground glass but saw the slight enlargement and reduction of the angle of view as you focussed in and out. And you could focus right down to 13 inches with no attachments at all. And there was no parallax--one of the first pictures I took with it was a view looking down through the neck of a Coke bottle (!). And you could put close-up lenses on it and they worked because you could see what was in focus and what the field of view was, and you could stick a reverser ring on the lens and get even closer. And, wow! When you pressed the button, instead of that discrete "click" of the SLR, there was a symphony of complicated clicks and flaps, and the camera feeling almost alive in your hand as it quivered with the mirror shake
And then I got several lenses for it. And then I graduated to a Miranda G which not only had interchangeable lenses but interchangeable groundglasses AND interchangeable viewfinders.
Boy, did I have a lot of fun with that thing.
I loaded it with Kodak Microfile film and put it on a tripod and went out and took pictures of a brick wall at various f-stops to see how sharp the lens was.
I loaded it with infrared film and took pictures in which the trees looked as if they had white leaves against a pitch-black sky.
When I got my first telephoto lens I took some pictures of an intramural softball game and the perspective of the long lens make the results look so professional... and the bat looked slightly curved due to its moving while the focal-plane shutter was scanning across the frame.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
- black jack
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
When I was about seven, I very much wanted a telescope. This was in the late 1960s, when NASA was on the way to putting a human on the moon, and my National Geographics (kid version) regularly carried articles about and wonderful photos of the moon and other space objects. I thought it would be grand to be an astronaut, and was generally fascinated by all things in space.
Christmas came, and hallelujah! I opened a box to find a telescope! What bliss! Then my dad and older brother took it outside (with me tagging along) to check it out. They set it up, peered through it at various distant objects, and decided that there was something wrong with it. Back into the box it went, and presumably back to the store. I never even got to look at the moon through it - and for some reason I was never given a replacement for that defective present.
Decades on I can only recall a handful of the Christmas presents I received over the years, but I never forgot the story of the telescope I almost got. My dear wife, having heard that story, gave me a telescope for Christmas soon after we were married. We didn't have much money, so it was an inexpensive telescope (though probably better than the one I almost got at age seven) - and I discovered that you can't really see all that much with a telescope. The moon, yes, very well, and a couple of planets somewhat well, but those bright specks that litter the sky at night are still just bright specks even seen through a telescope.
So the telescope gathers dust in a closet, my painful story about my lost childhood Christmas telescope is now a sweet story about my dear wife's thoughtfulness, and anytime I wish I can look at amazing photos of space objects on my computer, taken by multi-million telescopes, some of which are themselves space objects.
Christmas came, and hallelujah! I opened a box to find a telescope! What bliss! Then my dad and older brother took it outside (with me tagging along) to check it out. They set it up, peered through it at various distant objects, and decided that there was something wrong with it. Back into the box it went, and presumably back to the store. I never even got to look at the moon through it - and for some reason I was never given a replacement for that defective present.
Decades on I can only recall a handful of the Christmas presents I received over the years, but I never forgot the story of the telescope I almost got. My dear wife, having heard that story, gave me a telescope for Christmas soon after we were married. We didn't have much money, so it was an inexpensive telescope (though probably better than the one I almost got at age seven) - and I discovered that you can't really see all that much with a telescope. The moon, yes, very well, and a couple of planets somewhat well, but those bright specks that litter the sky at night are still just bright specks even seen through a telescope.
So the telescope gathers dust in a closet, my painful story about my lost childhood Christmas telescope is now a sweet story about my dear wife's thoughtfulness, and anytime I wish I can look at amazing photos of space objects on my computer, taken by multi-million telescopes, some of which are themselves space objects.
We cannot absolutely prove [that they are wrong who say] that we have seen our best days. But so said all who came before us, and with just as much apparent reason. |
-T. B. Macaulay (1800-1859)
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
X-ray glasses that I saw in the ads in the back of my comic books.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
After my cancer diagnosis at 20, I decided to become an MD. I still wish for a medical delivery system that actually puts patient and doctor at the forefront. I have infrequently seen that and am seeing it less and less as time goes on, though i see small enough glimpses to keep me going for now.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
As a kid, I never had a lot of the things that the other kids had, but it never bothered me.
All the Best, |
Joe
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
As a kid I wanted our family to get a Chevy conversion van. I wanted one with captain's chairs, table, ice box and sink. Those things were sooo cool! I have no idea why I wanted one so bad, but we never got one. Thankfully, perhaps
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I dreamed of having EVERY video game available for my Apple computer. I honestly felt for nearly 5 years that if that were ever attainable, life would be complete and completely done, happiness fulfilled to the maximum.
I found out a few months ago that you can run pretty much nearly every old Apple 2 era game in a browser, for free, instantly on certain websites that do a Java emulation of it. And it's frankly depressing how bad those games are and how I could even tolerate 5 minutes of any of them. Amazing how times change.
I found out a few months ago that you can run pretty much nearly every old Apple 2 era game in a browser, for free, instantly on certain websites that do a Java emulation of it. And it's frankly depressing how bad those games are and how I could even tolerate 5 minutes of any of them. Amazing how times change.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Ooh I wanted an imperial AT-AT from star wars so bad and my parents never got me one. I grew up with those films and it still bothers me to this day! Lol. I ended up getting my first real job out of college and working for LucasArts for over nine years and yes I bought myself an AT-AT!
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
A piano, but no complaints since we really didn't have room for one when I was growing up and I had other instruments. Plus I played pianos at the homes of my cousins and friends, at school, anywhere there was one. I was never going to be technically great on it, or even very good. But how I loved that instrument, and still do.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
- Lucky Lemon
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Helicopter. No - a bit too expensive. Still is, although an R/C helicopter may be doable.
If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy. - Red Green
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
As a kid, I collected the whole set of Cherry Ames books. (She was a nurse who solved mysteries.) A friend next door collected Nancy Drew and we would read each others' books.
One year, I didn't have one volume so asked for it for Christmas. We opened presents on Christmas Eve and when I opened the missing volume, I started reading it. I ignored all the other presents and stayed up all night to finish it.
If you've never heard of her, here is a description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Ames
Hey, look at this from the wikipedia page:
After we were married, I donated them to the school library where DH worked. I heard that many kids enjoyed them and the books "traveled" a lot.
One year, I didn't have one volume so asked for it for Christmas. We opened presents on Christmas Eve and when I opened the missing volume, I started reading it. I ignored all the other presents and stayed up all night to finish it.
If you've never heard of her, here is a description: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Ames
Hey, look at this from the wikipedia page:
I guess she was my role model growing up since I didn't know many women who had a job outside the home at that time (unless they were single).Evolution of character
Cherry's early adventures are set during World War II. In these early adventures, Cherry solves problems and captures criminals when men in authority have failed to do so, "demonstrating that women can succeed in the public, working world.
After we were married, I donated them to the school library where DH worked. I heard that many kids enjoyed them and the books "traveled" a lot.
A dollar in Roth is worth more than a dollar in a taxable account. A dollar in taxable is worth more than a dollar in a tax-deferred account.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
What was it you wanted? Always wanted a puppy.
Why did you want it so bad? I was a lonely child.
Did you get it when you wanted? Never.
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult?
Yes. When I was in college, I traded a bag of weed for a blind dog. He would sound locate by looking up and turning his head from side to side. I named him Ray.
Why did you want it so bad? I was a lonely child.
Did you get it when you wanted? Never.
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult?
Yes. When I was in college, I traded a bag of weed for a blind dog. He would sound locate by looking up and turning his head from side to side. I named him Ray.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Pony.
6th floor walkup in the Bronx had a no-pony clause in the coop agreement.
6th floor walkup in the Bronx had a no-pony clause in the coop agreement.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
voltron-the one where 5 "lions" assemble to make one voltron. I got a miniature voltron once but it just wasn't the same.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
delete
Last edited by goaties on Sat Nov 19, 2022 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Growing up we were poor and we learned early not to hope for stuff because it wasn't going to happen. It developed a mindset of not wanting things, other than wanting not to be poor.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
My want was a doll like that, think Scarlett O'Hara dresses, but my imagination didn't stretch to two feet. That must have been an amazing doll.goaties wrote: At about age 4, I lusted after a doll which was displayed for a couple months in a storefront downtown. It was about 2 feet tall and had the most delicious wardrobe...beautiful dresses and coats, even underwear! It was raffled off to benefit some charity. We didn't win. However, my mother, the most resourceful woman on the planet, managed to find a used doll about the same size and had an aunt make some reasonably nice clothes for it. Got my uncle to make it a storage box with a tiny drawer and little clothes hangers. Depression-era people were pretty amazing.
When I was a young woman, Vermont Maid maple syrup had some promotion where you could get a Vermont Maid doll. That filled that want. I still have her. Here's a web photo, not mine:
In looking for a photo, I ran across a vintage advertising doll site. I guess companies don't do that any more. Kids don't know what they're missing. I still buy Vermont Maid maple syrup if there's no local maple syrup.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
The local university where I live has once a week evening look through the giant telescope things open to the public.black jack wrote:When I was about seven, I very much wanted a telescope.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Growing up in a family with 3 siblings / 1 working parent;
My parents were so poor,
they had to save their money, just to be poor.
My parents were so poor,
they had to save their money, just to be poor.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
When I was five I met the love of my life. I know I was five and didn't know what love was but I had "that" feeling about this girl. And it only grew. I lived in a small town so as you went from grade to grade you always had the same kids in the same classes. I was in her same class from kindergarten to 8th grade and "that" feeling only got stronger. Even in high school we had 75% same classes. I confessed my love multiple times to her in every way a teenage boy would, letters..poems..calling and hanging up...and was systematically shot down. "I love you as a friend" type stuff that is a knife in the heart to teenage love. But, since we were a small group of kids from small towns I watched as friend after friend dated her thru the years knowing I wasn't good enough for her and wanting to be with her more than absolutely anything in the world. We graduated and went our seperate ways but kept in touch. Well, her taste in men only got worse. She married and quickly divorced with a son. She then got involved with a childhood friend of ours that was an addict and had a daughter. She left him and married another man. The addict signed away his rights to the daughter and new husband adopted the daughter. Well, you guessed it, they got divorced. The man who adopted the daughter wants nothing to do with the daughter now. So, because of her choices in men her daughter has 2 "dads" that don't want her. Just sadness all around... And now you can guess the rest of the story. I'm in my 40's with a house, no kids and steady job which is very attractive to those not used to stability. She now says she loves me and wants to be with me. But it will never happen. I've been with the same woman for over a decade and am happy. I will never leave her.
What I learned is that love does not build a bridge, you can not live on love alone and love does not conquer all. I do believe in love at first sight. But what I learned most of all is that you can choose a mate. You have a say in your happiness and can control the quality of relationships. The feeling of love is a small percentage of happiness.
Also, a bb-gun.
What I learned is that love does not build a bridge, you can not live on love alone and love does not conquer all. I do believe in love at first sight. But what I learned most of all is that you can choose a mate. You have a say in your happiness and can control the quality of relationships. The feeling of love is a small percentage of happiness.
Also, a bb-gun.
- JupiterJones
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
For some reason I remember really wanting a strobe light (I was big into disco as a kid), but my mom thought they were bad for your eyes and wouldn't let me have one.
"Stay on target! Stay on target!"
- SmileyFace
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
My own bedroom - I shared with my brothers.
And we had a single bathroom for 6 of us.....
Now I've got a house with 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms with my kids each getting their own bedroom .... but two of them still fight over sharing one bathroom between two of them - you can imagine the repetitive stories I tell them (having to get up 2 hours before school to take a shower on schedule, etc.).
And we had a single bathroom for 6 of us.....
Now I've got a house with 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms with my kids each getting their own bedroom .... but two of them still fight over sharing one bathroom between two of them - you can imagine the repetitive stories I tell them (having to get up 2 hours before school to take a shower on schedule, etc.).
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
My brother and I had to use the same water. We did not have a shower so mom would run water for a bath, one of us would get in and when the other was done the other would take his turn. Did this up into pre-teen age.DaftInvestor wrote:My own bedroom - I shared with my brothers.
And we had a single bathroom for 6 of us.....
Now I've got a house with 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms with my kids each getting their own bedroom .... but two of them still fight over sharing one bathroom between two of them - you can imagine the repetitive stories I tell them (having to get up 2 hours before school to take a shower on schedule, etc.).
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
who gets to go in first?saladdin wrote:one of us would get in and when the other was done the other would take his turn. Did this up into pre-teen age.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Monty Python's poor script...
Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.
Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine,
ay Gessiah?
Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.
Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin'
here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?
MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup
o' tea.
GC: A cup ' COLD tea.
EI: Without milk or sugar.
TG: OR tea!
MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.
EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a
rolled up newspaper.
GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.
TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money
doesn't buy you happiness."
EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to
live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.
GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one
room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the
floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for
fear of FALLING!
TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a
corridor!
MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a
palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish
tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting
fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.
EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered
by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and
live in a lake!
TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty
of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.
MP: Cardboard box?
TG: Aye.
MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in
a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the
morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down
mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home,
out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!
GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in
the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to
work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad
would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we
were LUCKY!
TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox
at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues.
We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four
hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we
got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.
EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night,
half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump
of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill
owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home,
our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves
singing "Hallelujah."
MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't
believe ya'.
ALL: Nope, nope..
Michael Palin: Ahh.. Very passable, this, very passable.
Graham Chapman: Nothing like a good glass of Chateau de Chassilier wine,
ay Gessiah?
Terry Gilliam: You're right there Obediah.
Eric Idle: Who'd a thought thirty years ago we'd all be sittin'
here drinking Chateau de Chassilier wine?
MP: Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup
o' tea.
GC: A cup ' COLD tea.
EI: Without milk or sugar.
TG: OR tea!
MP: In a filthy, cracked cup.
EI: We never used to have a cup. We used to have to drink out of a
rolled up newspaper.
GC: The best WE could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.
TG: But you know, we were happy in those days, though we were poor.
MP: Aye. BECAUSE we were poor. My old Dad used to say to me, "Money
doesn't buy you happiness."
EI: 'E was right. I was happier then and I had NOTHIN'. We used to
live in this tiiiny old house, with greaaaaat big holes in the roof.
GC: House? You were lucky to have a HOUSE! We used to live in one
room, all hundred and twenty-six of us, no furniture. Half the
floor was missing; we were all huddled together in one corner for
fear of FALLING!
TG: You were lucky to have a ROOM! *We* used to have to live in a
corridor!
MP: Ohhhh we used to DREAM of livin' in a corridor! Woulda' been a
palace to us. We used to live in an old water tank on a rubbish
tip. We got woken up every morning by having a load of rotting
fish dumped all over us! House!? Hmph.
EI: Well when I say "house" it was only a hole in the ground covered
by a piece of tarpolin, but it was a house to US.
GC: We were evicted from *our* hole in the ground; we had to go and
live in a lake!
TG: You were lucky to have a LAKE! There were a hundred and sixty
of us living in a small shoebox in the middle of the road.
MP: Cardboard box?
TG: Aye.
MP: You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in
a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six o'clock in the
morning, clean the bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down
mill for fourteen hours a day week in-week out. When we got home,
out Dad would thrash us to sleep with his belt!
GC: Luxury. We used to have to get out of the lake at three o'clock in
the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, go to
work at the mill every day for tuppence a month, come home, and Dad
would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we
were LUCKY!
TG: Well we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox
at twelve o'clock at night, and LICK the road clean with our tongues.
We had half a handful of freezing cold gravel, worked twenty-four
hours a day at the mill for fourpence every six years, and when we
got home, our Dad would slice us in two with a bread knife.
EI: Right. I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night,
half an hour before I went to bed, (pause for laughter), eat a lump
of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down mill, and pay mill
owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home,
our Dad would kill us, and dance about on our graves
singing "Hallelujah."
MP: But you try and tell the young people today that... and they won't
believe ya'.
ALL: Nope, nope..
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I bought a telescope many years ago. I still have it. It is mostly good for looking at the moon, although you can see a little bit of the shape of Jupiter and even see the big moons.dolphinsaremammals wrote:The local university where I live has once a week evening look through the giant telescope things open to the public.black jack wrote:When I was about seven, I very much wanted a telescope.
Here's the wikipedia article on my telescope: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroscan
In theory, theory and practice are identical. In practice, they often differ.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
An Altair 8800.
A real live actual computer! With toggle switches and blinkenlights and everything!
Still don't have one.
A real live actual computer! With toggle switches and blinkenlights and everything!
Still don't have one.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I've always wanted to truly learn to ride horses. I spent my childhood reading every book in the Saddle Club series. At this point in my life, riding lessons are still too expensive, but I'm hoping in a couple more years we'll be able to afford it. Obviously I will never be an Olympic show jumper, but I still think it would be amazing to learn.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Bravo, Sir!
saladdin wrote:When I was five I met the love of my life....
Henceforth, content shall be my aim, and anticipation my joy. -Alfred Billings Street
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- Location: New York
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
^^ That brings back some memories.DaftInvestor wrote:My own bedroom - I shared with my brothers.
And we had a single bathroom for 6 of us.....
Now I've got a house with 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms with my kids each getting their own bedroom .... but two of them still fight over sharing one bathroom between two of them - you can imagine the repetitive stories I tell them (having to get up 2 hours before school to take a shower on schedule, etc.).
My own bedroom - I slept in the living room on a cot. If visitors came over, I had to wait until they left before I could sleep.
And we had a single bathroom for 5 of us......the women outnumbered us.
Now, I've got a home with 3 bathrooms and one decent sized bedroom for each person. My family has no idea what it was like growing up.
"One should invest based on their need, ability and willingness to take risk - Larry Swedroe" Asking Portfolio Questions
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
We were kids and like all kids hated to take baths. We had to rotate days.wxz76 wrote:who gets to go in first?saladdin wrote:one of us would get in and when the other was done the other would take his turn. Did this up into pre-teen age.
- CountryBoy
- Posts: 1777
- Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:21 am
- Location: NY
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Peace of mind.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I speak from experience: a two-foot doll is amazing. This is a bit OT, but I got my wish for a two-foot doll for Christmas in the early '50s. She came with summer and winter clothes, including a wool winter coat, leggings, boots, and hat. The doll was expensive, so my grandparents chipped in to help buy it and I got only one other gift from my parents - a good lesson in frugality for me! A two-foot doll may have been unusual then as it was the only one in the store and I don't remember seeing another in any other store, nor did my friends have dolls more than a foot or so.dolphinsaremammals wrote:My want was a doll like that, think Scarlett O'Hara dresses, but my imagination didn't stretch to two feet. That must have been an amazing doll....goaties wrote: At about age 4, I lusted after a doll which was displayed for a couple months in a storefront downtown. It was about 2 feet tall and had the most delicious wardrobe...beautiful dresses and coats, even underwear! It was raffled off to benefit some charity. We didn't win. However, my mother, the most resourceful woman on the planet, managed to find a used doll about the same size and had an aunt make some reasonably nice clothes for it. Got my uncle to make it a storage box with a tiny drawer and little clothes hangers. Depression-era people were pretty amazing.
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Well he you go https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGRrOEbY3pICountryBoy wrote:Peace of mind.
I always liked man i'll never be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmc_t7m2pC4
But I got that so I guess it does not count.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
A Hamilton watch. Santa brought a stupid Zegna suit instead.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Growing up, I always wanted a Barbie dream house. For many years, we got the annual Christmas catalog and I would mark that one page in the catalog for my dream house. But I never got it.
So, when I grew up, there was a Barbie dream house Christmas ornament, which I did buy and continue to put on my Christmas tree every year. Now, my daughter (age 5) does not play with Barbies so I am afraid she won't be interested in a Barbie dream house. Maybe I can buy one for my grandkids one day.
So, when I grew up, there was a Barbie dream house Christmas ornament, which I did buy and continue to put on my Christmas tree every year. Now, my daughter (age 5) does not play with Barbies so I am afraid she won't be interested in a Barbie dream house. Maybe I can buy one for my grandkids one day.
- pennstater2005
- Posts: 2509
- Joined: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:50 pm
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I tried to think of something clever to say but couldn't, so how bout' wit
“If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.” – Earl Wilson
- cheese_breath
- Posts: 11787
- Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:08 pm
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
When I was little in the 1940s I wanted a pony. Never got it.
When I got older I wanted a supermodel wife. Came close. My wife was pretty hot when she was younger, certainly more than I deserved.
When I got older I wanted a supermodel wife. Came close. My wife was pretty hot when she was younger, certainly more than I deserved.
The surest way to know the future is when it becomes the past.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Sorry, this may be a bit of a downer...
What was it you wanted? A peaceful house
Why did you want it so bad? Parents were always screaming at each other or screaming at us. They bought us things out of guilt so we had everything physical we wanted, but I remember especially as I got older wishing I could trade all my gifts in for one peaceful holiday.
Did you get it when you wanted? Not even close
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult? Yes. The household DH and I built is truly a peaceful refuge from the world. We refer to it as our "bear cave" and it's more awesome than I ever imagined as a child.
What was it you wanted? A peaceful house
Why did you want it so bad? Parents were always screaming at each other or screaming at us. They bought us things out of guilt so we had everything physical we wanted, but I remember especially as I got older wishing I could trade all my gifts in for one peaceful holiday.
Did you get it when you wanted? Not even close
If not, did you get it yourself when you became an adult? Yes. The household DH and I built is truly a peaceful refuge from the world. We refer to it as our "bear cave" and it's more awesome than I ever imagined as a child.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
As a 13 year old I wanted a pair of sai's desperately (kind of like daggers). I envisioned myself mastering all these cool moves, way cooler than a butterfly knife. My parent's said no on the grounds that they were weapons. The Patriots went to the superbowl that year to face the Chicago Bears. My father, a lifelong fan, declared, that if they won, he would give each of his children "anything they want". I thought that was my ticket to overcome all objections. Final score Bears 46, Pats 10.
I have not bought them as an adult because my interests changed.
I have not bought them as an adult because my interests changed.
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
When I was growing up, there was this brand of bubble gum that had a number on the inside of the wrapper. If you collected numbers 1-30, you won a prize. I don't even remember what the prize was. But I desperately wanted all the numbers. As did all my friends. We all had 1-30 except for number 26. (It was all a big scam I think, where there never were any 26's). To this day, I can remember the incredible feeling of hope and excitement when opening a new pack of gum. And the crushing disappointment that followed when it wasn't #26. There were all these schoolyard legends of people who had found the mythical #26. How you could only get it at a certain store, at a certain time of day. And you had to ask for it using a special code. Nothing worked.
To this day, I count not having found a pack of gum with #26 as one of the defining memories of my childhood.
To this day, I count not having found a pack of gum with #26 as one of the defining memories of my childhood.
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Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
I think you get to buy one for yourself. No need for excuses. Besides, if you buy one for the grandkids and then spend all the time playing with it yourself, how will that go over with themaprilcpa wrote:Growing up, I always wanted a Barbie dream house. For many years, we got the annual Christmas catalog and I would mark that one page in the catalog for my dream house. But I never got it.
So, when I grew up, there was a Barbie dream house Christmas ornament, which I did buy and continue to put on my Christmas tree every year. Now, my daughter (age 5) does not play with Barbies so I am afraid she won't be interested in a Barbie dream house. Maybe I can buy one for my grandkids one day.
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- Joined: Tue Jul 22, 2014 4:18 pm
Re: What did you always wish for but never got?
Sometimes you can trade mucking out stables or whatever for lessons.mlipps wrote:I've always wanted to truly learn to ride horses. I spent my childhood reading every book in the Saddle Club series. At this point in my life, riding lessons are still too expensive, but I'm hoping in a couple more years we'll be able to afford it. Obviously I will never be an Olympic show jumper, but I still think it would be amazing to learn.