Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Words of Wisdom from Bert's Dad

The MiL called from work around noon today as I was feeding Cubby lunch. I didn't answer, because Cubby should not be left unattended in his booster seat lest he launch himself backwards and crack open his head. So she left a message to the effect that since I hadn't posted yet she was worried something terrible had happened.

Nothing terrible happened. I just . . . didn't. I used Cubby's first nap time to bring water to the chickens, bring in wood, rearrange the tarp on the woodpile, and talk to my parents.

Cubby is currently down for his second nap, which means I can now relay to you an amusing and instructive story my dad told me while I was talking to him this morning.

My dad recently went to visit his godmother and her husband, Bert. Bert is now in his mid to late 80s. When he was 12 years old, which would have been in the 1930s, he started working in the summers at a sausage factory in Milwaukee. He worked 40 hours a week there. As a twelve year old.

It was a different time.

Bert's father also worked at this sausage factory, as a meat cutter. After Bert's first full day of work, his dad took him to the bar across the street from the factory for his first beer.

Again, Bert was 12 years old. Again, it was a different time.

While the two of them were drinking their beers, Bert's father imparted the following words of wisdom: "You work like a man now, so you can drink like a man. You should also act like a man--so don't be an asshole."*

A different time, but I think we can all agree that that is timeless wisdom.

* Except Bert's family all spoke German, which means this advice would have been relayed in German. For some reason, that makes it even funnier in my imagination.
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9 comments:

  1. Phoo-DJanuary 18, 2011 at 11:33 AM

    Lol, wiser words have never been spoken! What a great story.

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  2. SaraJanuary 18, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    That's a great story! So very wise indeed.

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  3. DaisyJanuary 18, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Ah, yes, that's Milwaukee. Sausages and beer. Here I am about 100 miles north of there, and my fridge - gee, it has a sizable quantity of sausage and beer in it!

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  4. FinnyKnitsJanuary 18, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    Probably also makes it more effective, if said in German.

    If only I knew how to say that. I only know how to say things like, "windshield wiper" and "potato salad".

    Still - sage advice.

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  5. homegrown countrygirlJanuary 18, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    That IS timeless wisdom. And a good story. Thanks for sharing it!

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  6. Just MeJanuary 18, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    Timeless wisdom, indeed. I like Bert's dad already.

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  7. jive turkeyJanuary 19, 2011 at 7:58 AM

    I am officially adopting Bert's Dad as my parenting mentor (except for maybe the 'pre-teen factory work' thing).

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  8. milJanuary 20, 2011 at 7:29 AM

    It drove me crazy that I couldn't quite remember enough German to translate Bert's Dad's comment idiomatically. So I asked a friend--a native of Stuttgart. And here it is:

    "You work like a man now, so you can drink like a man. You should also act like a man--so don't be an asshole."

    “Du arbeitest jetzt wie ein Mann, und deshalb kannst Du auch wie ein Mann trinken. Du solltest Dich aber auch wie ein Mann benehmen – sei kein Arshloch.”

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  9. FinnyKnitsJanuary 20, 2011 at 5:18 PM

    MiL - you are awesome. Not that I'd be able to get that out in any coherent manner, but I love that it's right there for me to copy and paste into appropriate emails and such.

    You are a gem :)

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