What did your daddy teach you?

[Shang]

My dad taught me a lot of things a lot of ago --but thinking of this thread, I remembered my dad teaching us kids how to sharpen a keen knife or other edges. A few days ago I was setting up a whetstone and it came to me how I had learned to do that right. Thanks, Dad.

How about you guys?

[MiddleAgesMan]

To drive, at age 9.

Not much else.

[tigerregis]

Swear, smoke, drink and honour your wife. In the real world, bucking up rivets at 8/9/10/ years old and learning just what a bos'un uses his chair for.

[David G]

To fish and hunt. To keep an outboard running. To brew beer. How to go fishing by simply buying a round at one of the local commercial fisherman's taverns. How to build a cabin. How to swim. How to use hatchet and axe. How to set up a camp. How to drink without going too far. How to row. How to swim. How to flirt with the women. How to manage a cocktail party. How to structure a Board Meeting ("You got to let them pee in it... that's the only way they'll think it tastes right"). And more, I'm sure.

[Phillip Allen]

many, many things... among which, driving by the HAR, HAR method

[Keith Wilson]

Respect for reality. That you have to follow the data whether you like where it leads or not, because the world doesn't necessarily correspond to your opinions.

[seanz]

Patience........by example.

[Canoez]

More that I'd sometimes care to admit and more than I can put in a post - at 81 he's still teaching me things - and now sometimes I teach him a thing or two. Paddling, camping and canoe building are all among the skills.

The one thing that he taught me over and over again is devotion, dedication, caring and kindness in standing by the loved ones in his life through thick and thin - sometimes to the bitter end.

[PeterSibley]

That gambling was a mug's game... by example.

[pefjr]

Most importantly he taught me the value of a dollar, personal responsibility, love of family, honesty, golden rule, and too many things mostly already mention here. He was not perfect, but my grandmother thought he was. I learned an awful lot too from watching his mistakes. I loved him, and still do, tried to be a better Father then he was, and he has been gone 37 years. Thanks for the reminder, Shang.

[McMike]

How not to live life.

[elf]

To love the ocean and the mountains, to hate playing sports, that I was never going to play the piano well enough to say I can play the piano, to love Bach and pretty intensely dislike Beethoven, to love Debussy, the sound of the piano, and lastly, that perfection is impossible and the world does not work in black and white.

[bobbys]

Dad taught me to love my wife by his example with my Ma, Taught me to shoot clean a deer, Fly Fish the Beaverkill, Frame a house, Shimmy a tree, Take the Engine and tranny out of a Austin Healy bug eye sprite and rebuild it, Defend the weak and step in when needed, Bullies are cowards, Ride a MC, Taught me its ok to completely mess up and when you do its not the end of the world, Taught me sometimes life throws a curve ball, Taught me if you drink to much the sheetrock will have holes in it, Taught me Men can be hero's one moment, get tired and hungry and be cowards the next, Taught me if you jump off a Landing craft into Machine gun fire you might pee your pants, Taught me if you face a Banzai charge you will pray like never before, Taught me how to play 2d base, taught me the right hook and left jab, Taught me i will never be as smart as my brother but to play the cards i got, Taught me to get the money up front and do not use yours, Taught me to never live in a Country club or gated community , Taught me Bankers, Lawyers, Educated people are not necessarily as smart as you and they can screw up just as bad, Taught me when i had my own kids my dreams had to be put on hold, Taught me its much cheaper to buy a 6 pack and bring it home rather then go to the tavern where everyone is the best in the world after a few beers, Taught me to never be intimidated, Taught me to smile, joke and get along with people as much as you can, Taught me if a guy is a jerk its OK to trip him, Taught me the Mob pays in cash, Taught me i may be the only kid driving a old beat up truck to school but its all mine and be proud of it.

[ron ll]

A timely subject as I just returned this afternoon from a friend's father's funeral. He lived a long good life, but it reminded us of how lucky we were to have good dads. My own dad died when I was in high school, but even in that short time he was a role model I'll always remember. He taught me many things but what I remember most was that he always let me use his tools. I would catch hell when I abused them, but he never threatened to not let me use them. But I learned early the value of caring for tools.

[Gerarddm]

That if you make a bad bargain, you have to uphold it nevertheless.

[B_B]

... and now sometimes I teach him a thing or two...

Mine's 81 also and never learned this trick: I'm 41 and still dumber than a doornail.

[Lew Barrett]

How not to live life.

Same here. I have tried to live my life pretty much the way he didn't. The most important thing I didn't learn from my father was how to be a good father myself, a skill that I had to learn on my own, and which took some time and practice. I finally got the trick and none too soon, but it is a great sources of pride and satisfaction for me that I learned how to enjoy parenting, which is one of the secrets to being a good one.

My father was an unhappy and unconscious guy, a real shame because nature gave him everything he needed to be a success. He just never figured it out.

[JayInOz]

Bobbys my Dad sounds a whole lot like your Dad- we are the lucky ones. I just got off the phone to mine (he's 86) he's laughing about stuff we did together years ago and at the same time telling one of the sheep dogs to stop chewin his foot Lately I've been talking a lot about him with my wife. While I've always known that I was blessed to have such a morally strong, good man as a father- one who also happened to be an outstanding bushmen and teacher, it leaves me feeling a bit empty sometimes to know that much of the stuff he went to so much trouble to teach me is now redundant, outdated- even illegal. Anyway we got a good start- rest is up to us. JayInOz

[tigerregis]

Lew Barrett speaks for King Lear. When the tools aren't taught, no one can expect them to to pick them up and be Michaelangelo. That is a long, hard row of misjudgements, to be understood, assuaged and finally reconciled, I hope.

[Captain Intrepid]

So many things, biggest among them probably how to sing, and how to respect women.

[purri]

Mine taught me to shut up when wimmin are on the warpath.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Sailing. Table manners. Respect for academic achievement. Patience.

[PeterSibley]

That gambling was a mug's game... by example.

I have to qualify this. Dad was an intelligent articulate man, but with one unfortunate habit and that habit ruined the family several times. He would work and save then blow it all again. There was at least one lesson in that for me.

Yes, he taught me table manners.

[pipefitter]

Most of the general father/son things, but the best was how to fish. Fishing over a life time has fed me when there was no work, kept me from the bars, kept me from caring to do drugs, and as a way to connect/stay connected with my own sons. How to grow food. How to never let them see me sweat. How to shake hands correctly. How much stronger he was than my older brothers, in which to know better than to ever try to take a poke at him like they did.

[Robbie 2]

Hunt,fish swim.........respect for mum and all women
If you are going to do something...............do it right........ always!!!!
Dad passed away when I was 12...........1972 and I miss him heaps and always have.........would love to be able to sit down with him and have a good talk.
Mum is still with us..........in a resthome now and will be 90 in Nov......and still my responsibility as she has been since 1972 as our family is fairly scattered and I was the only one that stayed home.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Hmm, if I am totally honest he also taught me, by example, the bad habit of spousal elective deafness; he married three times and I am set to do the same.

More generally, I have a theory that most men eventually dress like their fathers did - does anyone else concur?

[purri]

^ SPED yes, in dress sense a distinct no.

[PeterSibley]

Hmm, if I am totally honest he also taught me, by example, the bad habit of spousal elective deafness; he married three times and I am set to do the same.

More generally, I have a theory that most men eventually dress like their fathers did - does anyone else concur?

One wife / one wife.

and no, he was neat and rather natty, I am neither .

[Curtism]

Hmm, if I am totally honest he also taught me, by example, the bad habit of spousal elective deafness; he married three times and I am set to do the same.

More generally, I have a theory that most men eventually dress like their fathers did - does anyone else concur?

I thought the elective deafness was instinctive, rather than learned.

And you might have a point about eventually wearing similar clothes, except my father wore several unfiforms that I never attempted to fit into.

One of the things he taught me was that it was alright for me to choose my own path, prefered in fact. It took us a few years to reach that conclusion and, when I think about it, it was probably something we taught each other.

The tendency to suck at plumbing now, he definately taught me that.

[bob winter]

My father taught me exactly how not to be as a father. I think I have done better by my son than dad ever did by me. The most selfish self-obsessed man I ever met.

[goodbasil]

How to shine my shoes so that they would pass inspection by a Royal Canadian Engineer Staff Sargeant. Which he was.

[LeeG]

Dad was mildly autistic and smart. Being ok with being lost. Dad wasn't exactly a good teacher and his social/emotional intelligence wasn't adequate for life's challenges when work and marriage went downhill. He spent the last 30yrs trying to find peace alone and managed to do so like a clock winding down.
I suppose the best lesson is to watch and be a part of what you're seeing.

[TomF]

He was a damned good father. Pretty much my whole orientation towards the world - the useful stuff and the not-so-much - has roots in how he did things. A curious mix of self-aggrandizing and selfless, much more willing to take risks to help other folks than on behalf of himself, he never stopped learning stuff and revising opinions on what he found ... whether about his professional life or his myriad hobbies. Taught me to sail, canoe, camp, how to use tools, and that you can always find out and learn the skills you need for a task by reading, finding a teacher, and practicing. And that everything ... every action or choice or opinion ... is really just a vehicle to try to express the only real things ... compassion and love. The trick is always to look inside a problem and find how to express them in this situation, in that situation, etc.

Dad died from Alzheimer's, and the disease gradually stripped away his capacities for speaking, for logical reasoning, etc. etc. All those accomplishments, those talents, the things we think make us ourselves eroded away. But what was left was this transparently compassionate, loving man - the core that he'd crafted over the decades, laid open to be seen - even when he couldn't remember the people he was sharing it with.

And finally, he taught me that we're all temporary here, and that dying can be welcomed.

[Flying Orca]

I'm not ready to write that song yet.

[Paul Pless]

My dad and I were very close. I'm named after him and proud of that. He was older (50 when I was born) and most of my life his physical health was declining. He was extremely intelligent, very well educated - two engineering degrees plus further schooling in economics and history, very experienced, had vocational skills too - he could weld extremely well, was a skilled machinist, and also was a really good mechanic. He enjoyed travel and learning, and he instilled those loves in me too, always teaching me and anytime he had the chance he took his kids with him when he traveled, whether for work or pleasure. He was never easily agitated. I'm sure he got angry, but it never boiled over. He was always in control of such emotions. I'm also very much like him in that respect. (as an aside, Kat sometimes gets angry at me because I don't get angry) People were important to him, his co-workers liked him and his employees (hundreds of them) loved him. He designed and built manufacturing processes and manufacturing plants. When my family moved to the South he personally taught reading and writing and math to those that worked for him that were illiterate, this effort was expanded into a literacy council for the entire state of Alabama.

I could ramble on for a while, but I guess what he taught me boils down to be kind, help others if you can, and there's great value personal value in education and learning and expanding one's experience.

He died a few days before I turned 21 while I was at college; I still miss him a great deal.

[Rum_Pirate]

Honesty, and the consequences of crime.

[ron ll]

I think I mentioned this before, but because there were almost no photos of my dad when he died, I've had to remember what he looked like. When asked, I usually tell people he looked sort of like Gregory Peck. Then a friend told me recently that almost everyone thinks their dad looks like Gregory Peck.

[bobbys]

How to shine my shoes so that they would pass inspection by a Royal Canadian Engineer Staff Sargeant. Which he was.

.

My Dad was a Marine Combat Engineer Staff Sargent.

I felt i had 17 years of boot camp.

[Mrleft8]

See below.



(Actually, I got that from my Grandfather...)


One of the things that my father taught me, and there are so many......
is how to find Orion in the night sky, no matter where I am.

[bobbys]

I think I mentioned this before, but because there were almost no photos of my dad when he died, I've had to remember what he looked like. When asked, I usually tell people he looked sort of like Gregory Peck. Then a friend told me recently that almost everyone thinks their dad looks like Gregory Peck.

.

We run rather on the Ugly mugg side but My Grandfather looked like Cary Grant, Very Handsome.

[Paul Pless]

Then a friend told me recently that almost everyone thinks their dad looks like Gregory Peck.

My dad looked liked Henry Kissinger.

Oh yeah, one more thing, My dad was a liberal democrat.

[ron ll]

Oh yeah, one more thing, My dad was a liberal democrat.

Too easy. You could drive a truck thru an opening like that.

[Paul Pless]

He was extremely liberal when it came to civil rights, women's rights and most especially funding education. He was agnostic (to the best of my knowledge) and my mom was/is a politically active Lutheran social conservative. Made for interesting dinner table conversation. . .

[elf]

He was extremely liberal when it came to civil rights, women's rights and most especially funding education. . .

What a shame you didn't adopt that from him.

[Paul Pless]

What a shame you didn't adopt that from him.

What makes you think that I haven't?

[pefjr]

My dad was a liberal democrat.

We have to know the year to figure out what this means. You know, liberal democrat was a rarity until the party switch of the sixties, so we are led to believe. I know it's confusing, but the research may enlighten us as to why you are a conservative.

[Paul Pless]

but the research may enlighten us as to why you are a conservative.

I'd say I'm a conservative mostly because I was educated in Economics at a school which was very conservative politically and economically. Also, I have been for all my life a business owner in the Deep South, so that's what my network of associates were. I'd also like to say that my conservatism is independent of political party, but I think that's apparent to most here by now.

[TomF]

I'd say I'm a conservative mostly because I was educated in Economics at a school which was very conservative politically and economically. Also, I have been for all my life a business owner in the Deep South, so that's what my network of associates were. I'd also like to say that my conservatism is independent of political party, but I think that's apparent to most here by now.

A friend up here is now a Green Party supporter, though he was once very active (and even a candidate for) the Conservatives. Charles says that within the Greens there are two prominent streams - the Lefties you'd ordinarily expect to be there, and the Conservatives who are really interested in conserving and preserving the value of things for future generations.

[Paul Pless]

I've always been environmentally conscientious, but am moving very strongly in the direction of being small letter 'g' green and sustainable with regard to my politics of late.

[LeeG]

What a shame you didn't adopt that from him.

Uncalled for