# Weird habits of older generations. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610 "2004-02-28T12:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TheJungOnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TheJungOnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheJungOnes)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/21 "2004-03-01T17:49:23Z")
My mother in-law grew up in Brazil with a mix of local witchcraft and Catholicism. She has a ritual for every situation. For example, she sticks a knife in the trunk of a tree and pulls it out to “read” the side of the blade. I do have to admit that she predicts weddings and pregnancies fairly accurately. She also told my wife, the night we got engaged, to not be surprised if I disappeared one day and not to look for me because I would be dead. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/22 "2004-03-01T22:50:18Z")
My weird Grandma used to have the “all-purpose” kitchen rag that was used to wipe counters, clean out the fridge, do the dishs and just about every other disgusting thing you could imagine. It sat there by the sink, and it always stunk really bad. Well, this crazy old lady used to _wipe the **inside** of the mayonaise jar_ with this horrid stank-cloth! God, that was disgusting! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/23 "2004-03-02T06:41:41Z")
My grandparents would never begin something on a Friday that they couldn’t finish on a Friday. They passed a lot of superstitions on to my mother and as stoopid as I know they are, I can’t for the life of me get past them: 1. Don’t watch someone until they are out of sight. 2. Don’t step over someone lying in the floor. 3. Don’t leave a hat on the bed. BTW, I didn’t think that _anybody_ took showers or baths during a storm. Isn’t there a reason? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/24 "2004-03-02T09:20:29Z")
> [@](#): > > If you use a hankie…you’re an old guy. I’m stricken! Seriously, I wouldn’t put an oyster in it, but handkerchiefs are a _requirement_. Using your sleeve is strictly out of the question, and disposable tissues are tacky. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/25 "2004-03-02T10:48:21Z")
My in-laws unplug almost every electrical device (exception being the fridge, I think) before going to bed, in case lightning strikes; this includes the VCR, which thus needs the clock reset every morning. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/26 "2004-03-02T14:43:28Z")
I guess I qualify as someone of the older generation, and for an indicator, I don’t take showers during lightning storms. I somehow have in the back of my head that should lightnong strike the house - particularly the pipes - I could get zapped. Since we moved here (1974) lightning has twice struck the well pump. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea if one of us was showering during either strike. Lightning once struck the wiring from the satellit dish to the house. The TV showed no effects, but all the satellite electronic were fried. And about putting a snot-filled hanky back in one’s pocket… One poster objected to this. I’ve use Kleenexes most of my life, and in church and various other places, I will return a used tissue to my pocket. What would the poster have me do. Throw it on the floor? I wouldn’t do that at a movie, a mall, a restaurant and just any public. And if I’m driving the kleenex stays in the car until I can toss it in the trash - not on the street. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/27 "2004-03-02T15:11:13Z")
> [@Eggerhaus](#): > > Hankies. AKA handkerchiefs. Separates the olsters from the youngsters, IMO. My father is 80 and carries one with him and uses it when he has to. My father (60) carries one too, because when he was little he would be fined a nickel if his parents caught him without one. And we wonder how my father turned out so compulsive! One time I said I didn’t need a glass with my can of soda and Grandma said she had never drunk straight out of a can before. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/28 "2004-03-02T15:41:49Z")
Frankly, I’ve never bothered to check the weather before hopping in the tub. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/29 "2004-03-03T22:02:16Z")
I thought of another in-law one. When my (now) husband and I started dating (this was in 1991), my daughter was three. His parents thought I was some freaky new-age crystal-worshipping hippy-type because I gave her … yogurt! They just couldn’t believe I fed her “that stuff.” They really think it’s weird. My FIL still won’t call it yogurt; he calls it fruit pudding. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610/30 "2004-03-03T23:35:47Z")
Generally speaking, we got along wonderfully with our babysitter, who was in her early 70s at the time, but there was one issue that she wouldn’t let go. She was absolutely convinced that if we didn’t put our kids in shoes, their feet wouldn’t grow correctly somehow. This was even before they started to walk. Now, we live in San Diego, so it’s not like we were ever freezing their tootsies off. And when they were really little, the only things they walked on were clean floors and soft grass. She even offered to buy them shoes at one point. It really seemed to distress her that we weren’t more worried about ruining our kids’ feet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-habits-of-older-generations/231610.md?page=1)