re: #182 steve_davis

dad born in 29. In 2017, he was still bringing home those giant tubs you can find in Sam’s of gravy mix, etc. When he died, he had like 6 of those things in the house. He wasn’t suffering from dementia. I think he just had enough disposable income in the latter part of his life to where he was finally able to say “fuck it. i want it, I’m buying it,” when it came to food. He grew up on a farm, so they had food, but my grandfather told a story of a guy who used to show up at the creamery rail depot to do nothing more than spend two hours helping to load the big milk tanks onto the train taking it to NY City and Philly. He did it so that he could go home with a gallon of milk for his kids, ‘cause he wasn’t on payroll, ergo wasn’t getting paid for anything. That shit sticks with you.

My parents are also depression-era folks (dad born in 1926). As the third of three sons, it was a rare thing for me to get new clothes. If it could be patched, or hemmed, or held together with duct tape there was no reason to buy it new in my dad’s eyes (and he had a decent job as an engineer). My mom bought bargain food and packed the basement pantry with stuff that often went bad before we could eat it.