The general decline in standards today

[jamespowers]

ONLY if you wear the white frilly apron, and frilly white hat to the dry cleaners. They'll be reviewing their security camera for YEARS...

Later

Uh no. Not even going to do it for money.:eeek::eusa_doh:

 

[fortworthgal]

It comes out of the wife's allowance anyway.
You would love my dry cleaner then. When I say heavy starch, it comes back heavy starch. You have to snap the pockets open. You could cut tomatoes on the creases on the sleeves.

Our cleaners goes nuts on the starch as well. My husband always gets heavy starch on his laundry. If I happen to have a pair of pants in there, I have to pry the legs open before I can put my foot in. lol

Here in Texas you can request "cowboy starch." Basically heavy starch on steroids. Stiff as a board. You'll need 2 people to pull the legs open on those pants, and I guarantee you'll break a sweat just trying to put them on!

 

[jamespowers]

Our cleaners goes nuts on the starch as well. My husband always gets heavy starch on his laundry. If I happen to have a pair of pants in there, I have to pry the legs open before I can put my foot in. lol

Here in Texas you can request "cowboy starch." Basically heavy starch on steroids. Stiff as a board. You'll need 2 people to pull the legs open on those pants, and I guarantee you'll break a sweat just trying to put them on!

Now that is a starch job. I have to pry the arms open as well with mine.
I have my sons' linen suits starched like that too. No stain sets on starch like that.

 

[TidiousTed]

At home it is pretty evenly distributed when it comes to who does what. My girlfriend hates cooking which is to say she’s no good at it either. I love to cook so I do all the cooking. Actually, the kitchen is more or less my domain all together. I shop all the food, keep order in fridges, freezers and in the old fashioned earth cellar and I do all the cleaning in the kitchen plus the dishes.
My girlfriend take care of everything that has to do with clothes and other textiles, washing, ironing and so on and she also washes all the floors. Vacuuming is a work in progress with two big dogs shedding hairs like there was no tomorrow so we both do that as well as general tiding up when needed.
Everything to do with the flowers, herb garden and fruit trees and berry bushes is my job and my girlfriend cuts the grass. And we use professionals when things need to be done with the buildings like painting, roofs etc.

No one thinks me less of a man because of this arrangement and that is mostly because equality between the sexes have come longer here in Scandinavia than lots of other places and most people have some sort of arrangement to share the house work as both are working in couples around here due to high living costs.

 

[scooter]

Hey JP, before you dig that hole too deep, you should consider that EVERY Marine is taught how to iron his own uniform, and is expected to maintain his appearance.

 

[jamespowers]

Hey JP, before you dig that hole too deep, you should consider that EVERY Marine is taught how to iron his own uniform, and is expected to maintain his appearance.

That is when you are IN the Marines. I know. My father was a Sargent in the 1st Marine Division in Korea.
How many times do you think I saw him iron anything in my lifetime?

 

[scottyrocks]

I have never wanted to be 'taken care of.' My wife loves that I take care of her. I do cook occasionally, I do the laundry (there's a load in now), and try to be neat. I have some say in the way the house is set up and looks as we make these decisions together. I also do as much of the home maintenance as I can myself.

I don't like braggarts or slackers. I think braggarts and macho-doods are actually more lacking in masculinity than the guys who do what is looked at by some as 'women's work' because we are so comfortable with ourselves that we don't need to prove to anyone who 'masculine' we are. I have discussions like with people occasionally I and I sometimes say that if I feel like walking around in an apron then that's what I'm gonna do, and nuts to anyone that looks down on me for it.

People who derive pleasure by making others uncomfortable have their own set of problems. People who are comfortable within themselves don't that sort of thing, and, in turn, aren't bothered by oafs who feel its their job to berate others based on their ideas of 'macho' or 'princess,' or what-have-you. I will not engage them in that kind of conversation, iow, take the bait. I've learned that it's almost impossible to change people's deep-down thought patterns, and it's not my job to do so. If this can be construed as me looking down on them for the way they think, the big difference is that I don't berate or tease them for it. Live and let live. Life is so much calmer and happier that way, at least for me.

 

[PoohBang]

so is ironing not manly?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Real men iron with a mangle.

 

[C-dot]

It is, sadly. My friends and my sister call me a pimp, because of the fact that I wear a gold watch, nice clothes, and especially when I had what they called my 'pimp car' a 1979 Buick Electra. I did not enjoy it, at all, and they couldn't figure it out.

"Pimp" is less of a person these days and more of an adjective, as in, "Yo, that's pimp, brah." As difficult as it is to believe, this is considered an esteemed compliment.

(Speaking of which, every time I get called "bro" or some variation thereof, I respond "Do I look like your brother?" Hilarity ensues.)

I don't like braggarts or slackers. I think braggarts and macho-doods are actually more lacking in masculinity than the guys who do what is looked at by some as 'women's work' because we are so comfortable with ourselves that we don't need to prove to anyone who 'masculine' we are.

Exactly! You aren't bragging about your overpowering masculinity because you don't have to compensate for anything. It's like people who talk about money - If they're talking about it, they don't have it.

 

[jamespowers]

Real men iron with a mangle.

I prefer the 50s variety:
[video=youtube_share;H4iftGu2j_I]http://youtu.be/H4iftGu2j_I[/video]
My grandmother had one just like this.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

The only person who calls me 'brah' is my little sister lol

(Speaking of which, every time I get called "bro" or some variation thereof, I respond "Do I look like your brother?" Hilarity ensues.)

That's how I like my shirts! You have a heck of a find there, Jimmy!

It comes out of the wife's allowance anyway.
You would love my dry cleaner then. When I say heavy starch, it comes back heavy starch. You have to snap the pockets open. You could cut tomatoes on the creases on the sleeves.

 

[jamespowers]

That's how I like my shirts! You have a heck of a find there, Jimmy!

Definitely. Better than me screwing it up.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

When I wear my double breasted royal blue suit out, I'm pretty sure the wrinkled stares are because people think I sell drugs or tail. And don't call me bro.

 

[Widebrim]

Or, indeed, instead of hunting, baseball, and working on old cars.

Very much so, Edward.

 

[Gregg Axley]

Wait, I iron AND mix my own starch.
I have my standards though, no flowery apron.
One thing I've noticed is that the "unironed" or "crumpled" look seems to be a fad.
Why I ask?
Some people call it casual, and I've seen it in a lot of places such as work, Church(!), and out to eat in the evenings. I can see that as fine for yardwork, or cleaning out the attic, but public places?
Maybe it's me but this came about a few years ago, as my niece and nephew were growing up.
They would show up like that at a family function, such as a birthday party or Christmas.
Hmmm, your pajama's must have been dirty so you just threw that on...
At least in my sister's defense, she TAUGHT them how to iron, but whether they do it or not is a different matter entirely.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Ironically, my mother is very anti-ironing. She says to just hang your clothes in the closet and the wrinkles will work their way out. I disagree. I hate crumpled collars, lack of creases, and of course that feel that a good, starched collar has.

 

[Ginandtonic]

Wow.. I've just spent hours reading many topics on this forum, and I have to agree with what most of you have written in thread, society sure does seem to be in the decline.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I like the idea that...'I have the perfect life setup for me'..therefore I won't allow any argument or debate about it in my presence. I am that sure of myself ..and if you disagree..you aren't..although I don't look down on those that differ. Even within the decline of things....life can be quite humorous...op2:

 

[Pompidou]

There are any number of words for men like that -- "gigolo" was the most common in the Era, and it was usually spat out with real contempt. Today I imagine there's a subculture somewhere that wears it -- or "pimp" -- as a badge of honor.

"That's pimp(ing)" is just a phrase meaning well dressed, albeit usually in the ostentatious way. If it looks like you're well dressed in a way that everybody's got to know you're well dressed, the phrase seems to come out. It's a compliment, but odds are, it means the recipient also looks superficially wealthy and/or overdressed. I used to get it a lot, so now I've got a whole bunch of outfits that could pass as working class, bohemian or the like, so that I don't always look like I left a club or the office - flannels and jeans. Nobody calls you pimp if you look hard working.