Hey Pandas, What Life Advice Did Your Parents Give You That Would Never Work Today? (Closed)

"Ignore bullies".

No, mother of mine, that didn't work then, and it works even less now they can torment you via internet....

My dad used to tell me to take my pay check, bank 1/2 of it right away and don’t touch it, pay bills with the rest. Whatever is left is your play money until you get paid again. I really don’t know how much $50 for 2 weeks gets me.

“Just ignore them, they’ll get bored and stop teasing you.”

Or

“He’s teasing (verbal bullying that eventually turned physical) you because he has a crush on you!”

In 2014, I got laid off and told my mother. She said, "Time to get out the yellow pages." Honestly, I needed that laugh. I told her, "That isn't how it works anymore."

You should get a job with Ma Bell installing phones. People are always going to need phones.

If a girl is mean to you that's because she likes you.
If someone is mean to you that's because they are scared.

My father used to advise me, when stopped by a cop, exit your car and meet him closer to his car. Claimed it made the cop more comfortable on his own territory.
Of course, these days it would get you shot, no matter what color you are!

My dad used to tell me to invest in retirement policies. He's now living in a run-down house, is tight for money, and will die lower-middleclass. He never changed job or got a promotion. Just plugged along at the same thing for 40+ years, collected his retirement, and now sits reading the newspaper. I mean, what a pointless life. It makes me sad. He's not sad, which is OK, I suppose. But I guess I expect more out of life than working 40 years to just be able to sit in a chair and do crosswords.

My mom let my sisters live in her house rent free after they were 18 and they had literally no idea how to be an adult. This might work for others but my sisters hated not knowing what to do so bad they told me if I need to I may live with them when I turn 18 but have to pay a small portion of rent and bills to get me used to paying bills and stuff when I am ready to live on my own. My sisters have no resentment with my mom they just wish they had learned how to adult before needing to adult.

You must have 6 full months of bills set aside

Kids can’t have anxiety, just relax and you’ll feel much better. Wow yeah if it was as simple as just relaxing I wouldn’t be anxious anyway. The same person also said ADHD isn’t real.

"Buy a Pontiac! Super reliable and an excellent value!"

GenX here. My parents told me to get a well-rounded college degree, because employers want educated employees and they'd train me for the specific job. Maybe this worked in the '60s, but it sure didn't work in the '80s. My first full-time job after college was "office manager" (aka secretary/receptionist). What I ended up doing until I got hurt on the job was manual physical labor (mail handler for the USPS). With my college degree.

This is recent but: tell the teacher that you have adhd.
Like, my dumba** (cencored by me) teachers think I’m not “working hard enough” and “just skimming the passages”

Mom: "I can't find Mariam's number."
Dad: "Dial 411"

My mom: "If someone is bullying you it means they are actually sad and you should feel bad for them and forgive them. Stand in their shoes and be kind to them."

Ok, I get that most bullies project insecurities or things they have heard from or experienced from their parents onto victims and that's super sad. BUT I have the COMPLETE right NOT to forgive someone who gave me lasting mental trauma and massive insecurities about my body and self-worth. You can stand in a bully's shoes and feel bad but being kind to my bullies never worked and only made them bully me more. Thank you for listening to my rant.

"Become a doctor, life will be easy."

No Dad and Mom, there won't be life left after becoming it.
I have instances where I didn't sleep for three nights consecutively to finish an assignment and also learn for upcoming exams meanwhile also doing field training.
Made me wonder what the hell I was doing.

that if you can't pay for it with cash, then you don't need it. at 35, i couldn't get a loan for a car because i had no credit. was told bad credit is better than no credit.

Dad: "Work hard and you can accomplish anything."
Also:
"If you don't like your job anymore, go to the next employer and play poker."

But at some point he realized that it doesn't work that way anymore and changed his mind.

Advice from my parents when I graduated from High School, 1970. "Why do you want to go to college? You can right now get a good job in a Steel Mill with good pay, as much as $6.00 an hour. You will have a good life on that pay, and plenty of job security. After all, this is Pittsburgh - there will always be steel mills."