# I pit my "concerned" parents! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 30, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014 "2007-06-30T04:29:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/61 "2007-07-01T16:15:18Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] You might as well call your car a “niggerwagon.” [/QUOTE] He better not! That’s the name of MY car. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/62 "2007-07-01T17:19:00Z")
**Captain\_C** , I don’t think anyone has mentioned this yet, so here is some more advice. I assume that having a car that breaks down regularly has acquainted you with several local mechanics. Take your potential new car to one you trust _before_ you buy it. It is a small outlay of money upfront but can save you big time if the thing is about to die. He will probably be able to tell you what systems have issues, and about how long you will go before some of them need attention. I have been saved from a very bad buy by following this advice. The mechanic noticed the problem very quickly, so he didn’t bother to continue and didn’t charge me. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/63 "2007-07-01T20:33:19Z")
Definitely have the new car vetted by a GOOD mechanic before you buy, it’s a cheap insurance policy. That being said, even for a grand the Cav is a pretty good deal–for three hundred it’s a slam dunk. I drive one myself, considerably older ('89) than the one you’re looking at. J-bodies are a dozen in a dime bag and parts are very available and cheap as hell. Assume the worst, that the engine blows–it’s a lead pipe cinch that it will be cheaper to get a 2.2 or 2.4L 4 cylinder crate motor or pull from a junker than a 3.8L V-6, which is what’s probably in your Bonneville. I bought my Z-24 for a hundred bucks and I’ve rebuilt or replaced damned near everything on it (most of it because I wanted to, not because it was broken–I just like having a mechanically sound car) and I still haven’t spent enough on it to bring my expenditures higher than blue book for it. Nice thing about Cavaliers, they keep on running–little workhorses, they are. And watch out for that head gasket, when those things go big time it can be fairly spectacular… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/64 "2007-07-01T21:48:39Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Ok, so my car, a 1992 Bonneville [/QUOTE] Wait a sec, you drive/own a “Pontiac” made in the last century? Are you one of those dozen clowns that pile out of it, as a joke? Did someone donate it to you (mistakenly) thinking you were a charity? Are you part of some dystopian future and are communicating to us from same? You still have parents that speak to you? Well now, that’s something. Continue then kind sire. ---
**Author:** ![MizTina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MizTina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizTina)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/65 "2007-07-01T23:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] At my place of employment, the last time a worker was cited for using the term “jiggaboo” within earshot of people of color (among others), he ended up with a 3 day suspension. [/QUOTE] He’s lucky he still had teeth in his head. No disparagement to the OP, but when I was a kid back in NC, and MLK was still fighting the good fight, that was one of the words used in place of the really bad word to describe a person of African origin. I haven’t heard it used in years and so I can see how someone who grew up in a different time and different place could hear it used and see no negative association with it. Back to the car issue. A compression test used to be a good determination of engine worthiness and they were reasonably priced. However, this was back in the day of points and condensers, so I don’t know if one would be viable now. But if they are, get one. Could save you waving bye-bye to a grand. T. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/66 "2007-07-02T00:30:08Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] He better not! That’s the name of MY car. [/QUOTE] YOU RACIST FUCKING PIG!!! ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/67 "2007-07-02T02:42:36Z")
[QUOTE=Uvula Donor] You know what? The term “jiggaboo” doesn’t have any good senses. You might as well call your car a “niggerwagon.” [/QUOTE] Can I keep calling my car a “gringomobile”? ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/68 "2007-07-02T03:48:18Z")
[QUOTE=Who\_me?] I’m 50 and don’t have an opinion that differs from **Frylock**. No one should live their life dominated by their parents. Parents do have experience and it is great for them to offer advise, but it’s up to the adult child to make their own decisions on issues that sigificantly affect their lives. [/QUOTE] So you’re 50. I’m 40, and I learned reading for comprehension. Who knew they didn’t teach that a mere 10 years earlier. A father telling his son that his POS car is unreliable, unsafe, and needs to be replaced, and that the hare-brained scheme to get a “new” car with 198K miles from the last century for a bargain $300 is almost equally stupid, is not **dominating** his child. Where did you pull that out of? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/69 "2007-07-02T04:42:02Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] So you’re 50. I’m 40, and I learned reading for comprehension. Who knew they didn’t teach that a mere 10 years earlier. A father telling his son that his POS car is unreliable, unsafe, and needs to be replaced, and that the hare-brained scheme to get a “new” car with 198K miles from the last century for a bargain $300 is almost equally stupid, is not **dominating** his child. Where did you pull that out of? [/QUOTE] Explain from where you pulled the notion that **who\_me** claimed the OP’s dad was dominating the OP? **who\_me** characterized _you’re_ attitude as being one that tends toward a parent’s domination of his adult child’s life. S/he said nothing about whether the _OP’s_ dad was doing this. And you criticized **who\_me** for failing to “read for comprehension?” :dubious: I’m not even sure what you’re claiming s/he failed to understand. As to your response to me (“Wait twenty years and report back to me…”) you’ve failed to support your point. Sure, in twenty years, I may tell my kid what I think he should do (if he asks). But I won’t think I’m right “because I’m your father,” rather, I’ll think I’m right because I tend to think the things I think are right. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Clockwork\_Jackal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Clockwork\_Jackal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clockwork_Jackal)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/70 "2007-07-02T05:10:53Z")
I hate to admit this, but I totally thought “jiggaboo canoe” was a made up name, like “jaberwocky” or something. I’d never heard it before, and thought, “That’s a catchy name! I have a canoe, maybe I’ll call it that.” And then I read the rest of the thread… :eek: Um, nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/71 "2007-07-02T06:19:17Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] YOU RACIST FUCKING PIG!!! [/QUOTE] I don’t know what anybody else thinks, but that’s a lot better than being a pigfucking racist. And **Carol Stream** , my father is a physically abusive, emotionally manipulative bastard, my life is immeasurably better since I stopped interacting with him 17 years ago, and your intelligence ranges somewhere between plastic cutlery and aquarium gravel. ---
**Author:** ![shootermcqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@shootermcqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shootermcqueen)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/72 "2007-07-02T08:18:15Z")
For parents I just tell them AFTER I have found a solution - cuts the nagging by about 70% (scientifically measured) For Jigaboo Canoe - am I showing my ignorance if I thought it was synonmous with shaggin’ wagon? ( I do not live in the US, and have never heard of a jigaboo) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/73 "2007-07-02T13:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=shootermcqueen] For Jigaboo Canoe - am I showing my ignorance if I thought it was synonmous with shaggin’ wagon? ( I do not live in the US, and have never heard of a jigaboo) [/QUOTE] That was my first thought. I do live in the US, but I’m both too young and in the wrong part of the country to have even heard of the word. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/74 "2007-07-02T13:12:45Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] YOU RACIST FUCKING PIG!!! [/QUOTE] Whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/75 "2007-07-02T13:19:21Z")
I’ll be another one who says Father does _not_ know best. Somewhere in there my father loves me I know but he’s also patriarchal, extremely racist (particularly against blacks but puerto ricans figure pretty highly on his shitlist too), and has totally different views on how a young woman should live her life then me. I get so tired of people who blindly say “Parents know best - they only do it for your benefit” without ever considering all of the mean, evil, and just plain old bad parents out there. Some parents don’t do it for your benefit, they do it to exert control. Not saying the OP’s parents are like this. In that situation I agree - just don’t tell them anything bad., ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/76 "2007-07-02T13:23:20Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] Whoosh? [/QUOTE] Yes, there was definitely a whoosh, but I would look a little closer to home for it. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/77 "2007-07-02T13:47:12Z")
[QUOTE=Buckler of Swashing] By this, did you mean to suggest that Frylock\* will certainly become a father in this time and thus be magically endowed with All Available Knowledge and Wisdom™? Or that, due to some (equally magical) incremental loss of intelligence with each generation our children will always be more stupid than their fathers? [/QUOTE] Stop this! I’ve been using these tales on my kids. It’s tough to keep the indoctrination constant now that they’re teens, and the last thing I need is them finding out the truth. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/78 "2007-07-02T13:49:07Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] And **Carol Stream** , my father is a physically abusive, emotionally manipulative bastard, my life is immeasurably better since I stopped interacting with him 17 years ago, and your intelligence ranges somewhere between plastic cutlery and aquarium gravel. [/QUOTE] Loads of beneficial bacteria live within aquarium gravel, and I think you’ve done it a great disservice. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/79 "2007-07-02T14:56:24Z")
[QUOTE=TokyoPlayer] Whoosh? [/QUOTE] Au contrare, the whoosh is on you…! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014/80 "2007-07-02T17:25:43Z")
[QUOTE=Captain\_C] Ok, so my car, a 1992 Bonneville in debatable condition, has been overheating. It has been determined to be a cracked head gasket. It runs fine for about half an hour, but any car trip longer than that and the whole thing heats up to about 300 degrees and starts pumping boiling antifreeze about 3 feet in the air. [/QUOTE] You’re gonna wanna nigger-rig that head gasket before trying to sell it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-my-concerned-parents/410014.md?page=5)