What's the best advice your father ever gave you ?

[BDuncan]

What's the best (serious, or even humorous) advice that your human birth father (or step father) really gave and / or still gives you, about living and life in general ?

 

[DarkAnt]

"Don't screw up!"
-Dad

good ol' dad, always giving me helpful advice. Yes he still does give out advice.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Okay I must tell about my dad's idea of the talk.

Dad: [Pointing to a lamp cord] You know that the plug and recepticle are called male, and female?
Me: Yes
Dad: Do you know why?
Me: Yes.
Dad: Okay.

 

[BoulderHead]

What's the best (serious, or even humorous) advice that your human birth father (or step father) really gave and / or still gives you, about living and life in general ?

Don't expect me, or anyone else, ever to help you.

 

[Corneo]

"Your screwed."

ROFL. :( *Sheds tear*

 

[check]

"If you ever travel back in time, don't step on anything because even the tiniest change can alter the future in ways you can't imagine."
LoL, jk. That's from Abe Simpson.

When I think of something real tho, I'll post it.

 

[dduardo]

Luke, I AM your father

Nooooooooooooooo!

 

[Monique]

"Always check your shoes for scorpions before putting them on."
me moving to Detroit

 

[pace]

My dad go more like this:

" See, over there you have the old Telemark Railroad. It was built 54 years and 3 days ago. They used to put all this iron back and forth. And you see over there, that's where they lived in those old shacks. But that's how it was back then. And there's where they got their food from those red farms.
Ah! There's another railroad. "

He's a maniac really. Reads Dictionaries in his freetime. He went to music university AND high school at the same time. Works.. as a part-time colonel, part time choir leader, semi-leader of a church, organist, music university teacher, chief of the whole music department in the norwegian freemasonary. He likes box-food, smokes 60 ultra light smokes a day, and sleeps in the church cause somehow he can't afford an appartment. Aaand so on and so forth


Apart from that... he never give a lot of advices. The last one I can remember was 10 years ago when he said that people tease too much. The rest he gives is just love. Or maybe rather his life.

 

[dduardo]

Monique, are you really moving to Detroit? It's really dirty there with all the car manufacturing plants.

 

[Monique]

I've been there and I had a great time :) actually the plants are really impressive when you drive through them at night, it is a very surreal world.. surrounded by factories in every direction, exhaust pipes that are spewing fire high into the air, smoking cylinders.. like a new world :)

 

[Moonbear]

My Dad's stories always had two recurring themes:

1) Listen to your elders and/or the most experienced person on the job (not necessarily the boss).

2) Be yourself - don't listen to anyone who tells you you can't do something just because you're female or that you should do something just to fit in with the crowd.

The first of these tidbits of advice came with an amusing story that involved a foreman demanding equipment be run faster to increase productivity, the experienced operator who said it couldn't safely run that fast, engineer's specs that said it should, and a plant being shut down to repair the equipment when the operator followed the foreman's instructions and the equipment broke loose from the bolts holding it to the floor requiring extensive repairs.

 

[The_Professional]

Looks might get it going but personality and attitude keep it going.

-Dad

 

[The Bob]

'If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you are probably right.'

- Quote from Henry Ford (made by Dad a lot)

'Play down both sides of the instrument.'

Meant for my cornet playing but someone will twist it.

More to come when I think more.

The Bob (2004 ©)

 

[Gokul43201]

Monique,

I hope you didn't go to UMich, cause that would make you the enemy - unless of course, you are willing to publicly denounce the school !


Go bucks !

 

[Hypercase]

On my tenth birthday, my father told me:-
"Son if You ever need a hand..., You'll find it at the end of your arm.

 

[franznietzsche]

My parents didn't give advice they gave warnings...and they're prolly not appropriate to repeat...i don't think they trusted me much.

 

[Moonbear]

You know what's really interesting here? The difference between the advice it seems fathers give to sons compared with the advice they give to daughters.

Oh, but then again, I did used to get, "Don't you start crying or I'll give you something to cry about!"

 

[Leong]

my father didn't give me much; probably because he wants me to see the world myself. he doesn't want to embed anything into my mind.

 

[Artman]

Me or my siblings - "That's not fair."
Dad - "Life's not fair."

Other dad stuff:

"Keep your fingers and your thumb close together when using power tools."
"All fools' names and faces appear in all public places."
"Take care of your teeth."

I also learned from him the art of sitting quietly in meetings and observing the proceedings without showing too much of your own hand.

Always treat everyone with the same respect. This one comes with a little story:

A man went to a doctor for a shot. The nurse came in and was about to give the man his shot when he stopped her and said, "I want the doctor to give me my shot."
The nurse said, "The doctor gives, maybe, two or three shots a month. I give maybe two or three hundred shots a month."
The man immediately rolled up his sleeve and said, "Would you do it please?"

This last one has served me well:
"Don't back people into a corner. Always give them a way out."

I consider my dad a very wise man and a good teacher (which was his profession).

 

[Zantra]

I've been there and I had a great time :) actually the plants are really impressive when you drive through them at night, it is a very surreal world.. surrounded by factories in every direction, exhaust pipes that are spewing fire high into the air, smoking cylinders.. like a new world :)

Typical Monique. You go to Detroit and you don't emphasize things like Hart Plaza, the Ren Cen, the lakes, rolling hills and forests of Michigan, but the smoggy factories..I hope you got out a bit more then that while you were there;)

Some good advice I've received over the years:

Work smarter, not harder
Sometimes when you win, you really loose

there's more I'll think of later

 

[franznietzsche]

Sometimes when you win, you really loose

Iraq anyone?...Is it a good sign when that is the first thing to come to a conservative's mind after hearing that statement? Sorry for the OT, couldn't resist.