We Were Tough

They grew 'em tough when we were kids. Kids are pretty much wimps these days. Bandaids? Who needed 'em? We'd spit on the wound and hold it tight until the blood stopped. If we couldn't stop the blood, Mom would say, "Go put some cold water on it." Now kids not only need a bandaid, but they have to have one with a cartoon figure on it.

Mosquito bites were treated by Dad's method: taking your fingernail and making an "X" on the bite to stop the itching, or Mom's method: spraying it with Right Guard. Toothaches were treated with a cotton ball or a rag soaked in whiskey or brandy. Athlete's feet was treated by pouring Listerine over your feet. If you had acne, you steamed your face over the teapot to open the pores, then washed your face with rubbing alcohol, and then ice cubes were put on your face to close the pores. Kids now think they have to have $500 worth of cosmetics to do the same thing!

Our dentist, Dr. Miller, would smoke big old black cigars and then put his fingers in your mouth. Gloves you say? Dentists didn't wear gloves back then! Dad loved Dr. Miller because he'd have his nurse send an index card in the mail as the bill. Dad would mail in $5.00, and in another six months or so "Nita" would send him another index card. The bill would be paid eventually -- usually just in time for another round of teeth to be pulled.

When my kids were little, Dad and Mom would come to visit when they could. While he was here, Dad would buy a small bottle of whiskey for his evening drink. He couldn't drive home with an open bottle, so he'd leave the bottle in my spice cabinet for "when the kids get a toothache." I have one of the last bottles of Dad's stock, a partial bottle of brandy. I was saving it for teething grandchildren, but my kids would think it was abuse. I guess I'll save it for some other great occasion -- they wouldn't take my temple recommend if I drank it the day Danny dies, would they? Well, maybe they would. Maybe I'll save it for when I'm dying of cancer or something. Trust me Dad -- I'll think of something -- just for you.