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My grandma did this. Never left a penny on the sidewalk, always took the bread from a breadbasket home. Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite b

by tootie 4y ago

My grandma did this. Never left a penny on the sidewalk, always took the bread from a breadbasket home. Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite being born in the next generation.

JamesSwift 4y ago
Yep, my parents are baby boomers and definitely have this ingrained in them. I also have some habits around eating where I (usually) waste nothing, which was instilled in me by my grandfather.
- distances 4y ago
  Not wasting food is just normal though, or is it just so ingrained in me that it only seems so?
  - JamesSwift 4y ago
    When I say dont waste food I mean my plate is completely clean when I'm done. I eat everything off a chicken wing so its _just_ bone left (eat all the cartilage and clean every bit of meat off). My grandfather would actually break the bones and suck the marrow out of each one.
Markoff 4y ago
> always took the bread from a breadbasket home Care to explain it to non native speaker from Europe? Is it some bakery chain and she took home some cheap/free leftover bread?
- quartesixte 4y ago
  Some restaurants give a free basket of bread with a meal as a sort of appetizer. Most people either consume all of it or just leave the leftovers.
  - bluedino 4y ago
    Many people ask for more bread after they wolf it down and even ask for some to take home. It might be buttery, lightly seasoned bread or something like rolls, usually fresh-baked.
  - Markoff 4y ago
    Ah, OK, my (Chinese) wife is like that, she won't leave anything behind, I don't mind leaving it behind, but I can understand trying to avoid waste since many places will throw away bread which was offered to other customer. And often the bread taste actually good, so it makes sense to take it.
  - yobbo 4y ago
    It's to fill stomachs so that the portion sizes seem bigger.
  - SilasX 4y ago
    Ah so like a mild version of this xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1499/ https://xkcd.com/1499/
  - tablespoon 4y ago
    Ah, so it's just that the OP wrote something that was prone to be misparsed. I read "breadbasket home" as a compound noun and guessed it was some kind of food bank or something, but "home" was really an adverb modifying took. So what was meant was something like "My grandma ... always took [home] the bread from a [restaurant] breadbasket..."
    - quartesixte 4y ago
      Yeah welcome to split verb-adverb pairs in English!
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
quartesixte 4y ago
> Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite being born in the next generation Yup. As a child of immigrants it gets passed down a very long way. Pass it down far enough and it just becomes “culture” and “tradition”.
CalRobert 4y ago
We were surprised to discover after her death (in the late 80's) that my great grandmother kept $1,000 in a pouch in her bra. I can understand not trusting the banks and wanting to always have some sort of cash on your person.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I cannot understand not having at least a couple hundred cash on you, and much more at home. What are people’s plans if the power or payment networks go offline? Earthquake, hurricane, ice storm, volcano, etc.
  - Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
    You obviously have considerable wealth if you think most people have the savings to keep hundreds of dollars on them at all times and much more at home. A large percentage of Americans can’t afford a $500 emergency. Also, many people don’t carry cash because they’re worried, rightfully or not, about being robbed. Same idea behind leaving stuff in your vehicle.
    - lotsofpulp 4y ago
      I thought it would be obvious that my comment would preclude people who did not have emergency funds. Or who live in areas where the probability of robbery is high enough to negate the benefit of having some cash on you. My intent was to show that while electronic payments are nice and convenient, I still like the peace of mind of knowing I have a resilient payment method like cash on me.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      I am suspicious of that "can't afford a $500 emergency" number that is thrown around. It apparently comes from a survey [52] which says: "53% could manage an unforeseen expense of $500 without worry" What that actually means isn't directly stated - but people read it as "half of Americans can't afford $500" which isn't what it's stating. https://www.personalcapital.com/assets/public/src/2022-Wealth-and-Wellness-Index.pdf https://www.personalcapital.com/assets/public/src/2022-Wealt...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ansible 4y ago
Same. I always clean my plate (though I try hard not to take more than I can eat), and am always very reluctant to get rid of anything that "still works".

by tootie 4y ago

My grandma did this. Never left a penny on the sidewalk, always took the bread from a breadbasket home. Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite being born in the next generation.

JamesSwift 4y ago

Yep, my parents are baby boomers and definitely have this ingrained in them. I also have some habits around eating where I (usually) waste nothing, which was instilled in me by my grandfather.

distances 4y ago
Not wasting food is just normal though, or is it just so ingrained in me that it only seems so?
- JamesSwift 4y ago
  When I say dont waste food I mean my plate is completely clean when I'm done. I eat everything off a chicken wing so its _just_ bone left (eat all the cartilage and clean every bit of meat off). My grandfather would actually break the bones and suck the marrow out of each one.

Markoff 4y ago

> always took the bread from a breadbasket home Care to explain it to non native speaker from Europe? Is it some bakery chain and she took home some cheap/free leftover bread?

quartesixte 4y ago
Some restaurants give a free basket of bread with a meal as a sort of appetizer. Most people either consume all of it or just leave the leftovers.
- bluedino 4y ago
  Many people ask for more bread after they wolf it down and even ask for some to take home. It might be buttery, lightly seasoned bread or something like rolls, usually fresh-baked.
- Markoff 4y ago
  Ah, OK, my (Chinese) wife is like that, she won't leave anything behind, I don't mind leaving it behind, but I can understand trying to avoid waste since many places will throw away bread which was offered to other customer. And often the bread taste actually good, so it makes sense to take it.
- yobbo 4y ago
  It's to fill stomachs so that the portion sizes seem bigger.
- SilasX 4y ago
  Ah so like a mild version of this xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1499/ https://xkcd.com/1499/
- tablespoon 4y ago
  Ah, so it's just that the OP wrote something that was prone to be misparsed. I read "breadbasket home" as a compound noun and guessed it was some kind of food bank or something, but "home" was really an adverb modifying took. So what was meant was something like "My grandma ... always took [home] the bread from a [restaurant] breadbasket..."
  - quartesixte 4y ago
    Yeah welcome to split verb-adverb pairs in English!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

quartesixte 4y ago

> Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite being born in the next generation Yup. As a child of immigrants it gets passed down a very long way. Pass it down far enough and it just becomes “culture” and “tradition”.

CalRobert 4y ago

We were surprised to discover after her death (in the late 80's) that my great grandmother kept $1,000 in a pouch in her bra. I can understand not trusting the banks and wanting to always have some sort of cash on your person.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
I cannot understand not having at least a couple hundred cash on you, and much more at home. What are people’s plans if the power or payment networks go offline? Earthquake, hurricane, ice storm, volcano, etc.
- Red_Leaves_Flyy 4y ago
  You obviously have considerable wealth if you think most people have the savings to keep hundreds of dollars on them at all times and much more at home. A large percentage of Americans can’t afford a $500 emergency. Also, many people don’t carry cash because they’re worried, rightfully or not, about being robbed. Same idea behind leaving stuff in your vehicle.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I thought it would be obvious that my comment would preclude people who did not have emergency funds. Or who live in areas where the probability of robbery is high enough to negate the benefit of having some cash on you. My intent was to show that while electronic payments are nice and convenient, I still like the peace of mind of knowing I have a resilient payment method like cash on me.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    I am suspicious of that "can't afford a $500 emergency" number that is thrown around. It apparently comes from a survey [52] which says: "53% could manage an unforeseen expense of $500 without worry" What that actually means isn't directly stated - but people read it as "half of Americans can't afford $500" which isn't what it's stating. https://www.personalcapital.com/assets/public/src/2022-Wealth-and-Wellness-Index.pdf https://www.personalcapital.com/assets/public/src/2022-Wealt...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ansible 4y ago

Same. I always clean my plate (though I try hard not to take more than I can eat), and am always very reluctant to get rid of anything that "still works".