Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[Fading Fast]

In eastern Germany, still today there are very popular "basic-lunches", like "potato-mash with pork-liver and roasted onions". Are there comparable "old-fashion-basics" in the United States?

Not completely the same as I don't know how far back it goes, but when I started coming to NYC in the '70s, many pizzerias had a "two slices and a soda" lunch special for (from memory) $1 - $1.50 or there about. When I started working in NYC in the '80s it was $2 - $2.50.* Now it is $5 - $6, but it is offered at many places. And there are some cut-price pizzerias that serve smaller slices and clearly inferior ingredients (that have popped up in the last decade) that have the "two slices and a soda" special for much less than the $5 - $6 norm, but again, it really isn't comparable as the size and quality is noticeably different.

Does anyone remember / know how far back in NYC the "two slices and a soda" lunch special goes at what price it was at in those early times?

*That special was the backbone of my lunch in NYC in those years as it was all I could afford - sandwiches and almost everything else cost $5-6 to get to the same level of fullness.

 

[HudsonHawk]

In eastern Germany, still today there are very popular "basic-lunches", like "potato-mash with pork-liver and roasted onions". Are there comparable "old-fashion-basics" in the United States?

In the US, a lot of restaurants have what's known as a "blue plate special" (though they may not use that term anymore). They're typically a low-cost, basic meal with no frills, and portions smaller than their regular "entrée" counterpart. They're popular at diners and cafes, and usually change daily.

 

[Trenchfriend]

And grain-coffee?

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aaah, now I seem to comprehend, why "Blue plate"-special!

It's, because the meal suits on these typical minor, blueish breakfast-plates, yes?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Aaah, now I seem to comprehend, why "Blue plate"-special!

It's, because the meal suits on these typical minor, blueish breakfast-plates, yes?

The origin of the term is somewhat fuzzy, but it's likely related to the ubiquitous "blue willow" patterned dinner plates that were so common in the early 20th century. They were typically divided, so that an entire meal was served on the one plate.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aaah, thanks!

In Germany, until today available, as breakfast-plates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Onion

 

[LizzieMaine]

And grain-coffee?

For a long time, Postum -- a coffee substitute made of roasted wheat and barley -- was popular here. But Kraft discontinued making it after buying out General Foods, and nobody paid much attention except for Mormons, for whom it was a universal breakfast drink. There was an outcry from that community such that a couple of operators managed to convince Kraft to sell them the trademark and the formula, and they began remanufacturing Postum on a small scale. They sell it online for some insane price like $10 a jar, but I presume you can find it somewhat heaper in boutique grocery stores around the Rocky Mountain area.

 

[Fading Fast]

For a long time, Postum -- a coffee substitute made of roasted wheat and barley -- was popular here. But Kraft discontinued making it after buying out General Foods, and nobody paid much attention except for Mormons, for whom it was a universal breakfast drink. There was an outcry from that community such that a couple of operators managed to convince Kraft to sell them the trademark and the formula, and they began remanufacturing Postum on a small scale. They sell it online for some insane price like $10 a jar, but I presume you can find it somewhat heaper in boutique grocery stores around the Rocky Mountain area.

My Mom loved Postum and drank it regularly when I was growing up in the '70s (I haven't thought about Postum in many years). That said, for $10/jar she will have no interest.

 

[Trenchfriend]

In Germany, grain-coffees are still available on supermarket, but since many years, the instant-ones are the popular version. But the classic to boil seems to be still available and cheaper.

 

[Edward]

My uncle, when I was a little kid, seemed like an impossibly old man -- sitting at the table at Thanksgiving with his balding head and his beer belly, outraging my grandmother by singing dirty songs punctuated by farts. He was only in his early thirties then, and people in their early thirties now could be my children.

Heh. I remember when thirty seemed ridiculously old too. Actually, I remember when beinbg twenty-one seemed impossibly adult, and now the undergrad kids that I teach seem really just kids at that age. I still find it hard to comprehend that they're twenty years younger than me - forty-one really doesn't 'feel' as old as it once looked!

 

[TimeWarpWife]

I've already outlived my uncle, who went at 46, and the next milestone is my grandmother, who went at 69. She had her first heart attack at 35, though, and I got past that point without incident. So good so far.

My Aunt Edie, the former longshoreman, lived to be 92, but the last few years of her life were quite miserable, so longevity can be a mixed blessing.

I remember being really disturbed when I turned 34, and realized I'd lived longer on earth than Jesus.

There were a total of 7 grandchildren on the paternal side of my family. Of those, I was born the middle grandchild. Sadly, all 3 of my older first cousins have passed away (they were all siblings - one died in a drowning accident at 5, one at 53, and one at 56; the 53 and 56 year olds were brother and sister who died within 8 weeks of each other, cancer and heart attack, respectively). I am now the oldest of the surviving grandchildren and next month I'll be 55. So my next milestone will be in 2 years to see if I outlive the 3 oldest of my cousins. It's kind of disturbing that my generation in my dad's family seems to be dropping like flies before 60, while previous generations lived to be somewhere on average of early 70s and several aunts passed away in their late 80s, with one old gal making it to 97.

 

[GHT]

previous generations lived to be somewhere on average of early 70s and several aunts passed away in their late 80s, with one old gal making it to 97.

My two grandmothers were born within eight months of each other. My maternal grandmother never smoked nor did her husband, so she was never exposed to secondary smoke, she rarely touched alcohol and, grandfather being a keen gardener, ate mostly fresh food, bacon being about the only processed food she ever ate. She outlived her only child, my mother, by 25 years, she never suffered from any chronic ailment and kept her marbles, right to the end. My paternal grandmother, was smoking untipped, full strength cigarettes from about the age of 12. She outlived two husbands, having had five sons by the first and a daughter by the second, she had both hip joints replaced, in the early days, when success wasn't guaranteed, and she worked well into her 80's. She owned a classic British fast food shop, a fish & chip shop. Back then all the food was cooked in beef lard, grandmother regularly ate from her own shop. She also loved a tipple, Port was her favourite, but she also enjoyed whisky and her glass or two of Guinness on Saturday nights were almost sacrosanct. This granny never quit smoking yet she too was lucid to the end. My two grandmothers died within two months of each other, both aged 98. Amazing, or what?

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Very disturbing realizing how fast time goes and that it never stops.

In so many ways, I still think from my 10 year old mind, as far as time. I think of the 90s as just having ended, my parents people in their thirties, and my grandparents as people in their 50s/60s.

Realistically, my parents are both officially in their fifties, I turned 25 on Sunday, almost everyone born in the 90's is driving now, my grandfather's funeral was a year ago today, my remaining grandparents are 79, 73, and 73. Grandpa would be 85 if he were alive.

When I was a kid, there were 4 generations of Men on my father's side living. The two elder generations are gone, and one has joined at the tail end. The painful realization my father is "next in line" as it were is beyond disturbing.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Very disturbing realizing how fast time goes and that it never stops.

Indeed. Metaphorically speaking, "I'm your dad." I went from kid to adult to dad to "oldest dude in the office" in the blink of an eye. Now I'm the oldest male standing in my family. Time marches on. On the bright side... with age does come a little peace. You don't get so worked up about what, in the end, are small things. You can shrug and say "I am what I am" and mean it. Things like "lust" and "ambition" and "envy" are no longer the slave drivers that they once were. You've paid your dues and (hopefully) feel that you've made a small contribution to the world. But you also become humble thinking about all who have marched before you and what they had to deal with. I take pride in my kids and probably love and appreciate my wife now more than I ever have. All in all, not bad. We shouldn't be frightened by the march of time. Rather, we should try to embrace each phase of life and squeeze the most out of it. Be AWARE of the phase you are in. I loved (past tense) being the dad of 2 toddlers... I sometimes feel that I was so busy calling the plumber and rushing to work and worrying about stupid stuff that I didn't relish the phase as much as I could have. Then again, I now love being the dad of 2 very wonderful grown young women. My next goal is to embrace the phase of being the "old, wise veteran" (even though I am perhaps not so wise) and realizing I don't have to prove anything any more. And basking in the love of old friends and family. I have friends who I've had for 40+ years! Yikes. I'm trying to wear "old school" as a badge of honor. Not quite there yet, but I'm getting there. I've rambled on too long. Life is short. Say "I love you" a lot.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.”

- Terry Pratchett-

 

[LizzieMaine]

A hundred years from now, all of us here will be gone, and remembered, if at all, by only a handful of people. Two hundred years from now, we'll be nothing but obscure names on family trees. A thousand years from now, it will be as if we had never existed at all. Five thousand years from now, it will be as if our entire civilization, everything we believe, and everything we've done, had never existed at all. Except maybe for Mount Rushmore and that cupaloy cylinder buried in a swamp in Flushing.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

That's funny Lizzie, my crystal ball reveals quite a different scenario.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't believe in crystal balls, but I do believe in history.

 

[Trenchfriend]

That's why I love this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue#Tannhauser_Gate

 

[MisterCairo]

I'm wearing a shirt older than my eldest child (she turned nine last June).