This week, I鈥檒l hand over much of this space to you, the talented readers.
So often, your feedback is fantastic 鈥� insightful, witty, incisive and it brings a smile to this old chunk of coal. (Shoutout to Norm)
Here鈥檚 but a tiny sample (abridged) of some of those responses from around the province. I kept names private to prevent paparazzi from following you talented writers around:
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鈥� 鈥淢y mother always told us to 鈥榚at the (bread) crusts; they鈥檒l make your hair curly.鈥� For the record, I am 77 and my hair is still so straight it won鈥檛 even hold a perm!鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚 remember one of my 鈥榦ld wives鈥� tales鈥欌�� if you make a funny face and a strong wind comes, you will stay like that forever.
Some of the kids believed that if they went into the pool (this is high school), after the boys had a swim class you would get pregnant!
If you have an itchy left palm, you will be receiving money soon.
If a broom falls over in the kitchen, company is coming!
A granny told her grandchild if you fiddle with your belly button, your bum will fall off.
My mom was from Newfoundland and she had a swack of expressions.
She said this one expression after hearing one of her children telling a little fib:
鈥業f you tell that story to a dead horse, he will get up and kick you in the head!鈥欌��
Five beauties from a pair of reader鈥檚 moms:
鈥� 鈥淚n addition to the ones mentioned in your column:
If you don鈥檛 wash your ears regularly, bean sprouts will grow in the dirt in them;
Don鈥檛 swallow seeds because they will stick to your appendix and you will need an operation;
Don鈥檛 sit on cold cement because you鈥檒l get piles;
When you eat homemade soup you can鈥檛 drink cold liquids with it because the soup will turn to lard in your stomach;
If you drink milk or eat dairy products when you have a cold you will get more mucus.鈥�
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鈥� 鈥淚 remember playing 鈥榮crub鈥� baseball when I was very young. I didn鈥檛 know that is what it was called and doubt any of the other players did either. We had a makeshift diamond on the DND property behind our house in Esquimalt. The cooks in the cook house often came out on the very small platform of their back stairs to watch and gave us ice cream every so often. A day or two before I was six, we played a game that June, I was hit by a thrown bat, had a black eye, came down with the measles, had my b鈥檇ay and spent a week in the dark in bed. That didn鈥檛 stop us from playing though, ha ha.
June is fast approaching and I will be back in the park to enjoy baseball that began 70 years ago for me!鈥�
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鈥� 鈥淎t age 72, I have distinct memories of our old black-and-white TV days. We started with rabbit ears on top of the TV, which allowed us to tune in to the 鈥榣uxury鈥� of three channels, CBUT (CBC)/Vancouver, KVOS/Bellingham, and the Victoria station that preceded CHEK-TV.
Heck, we didn鈥檛 know any better so three stations felt like a luxury.
Later, we acquired a big antenna for the roof and I remember being up there with my dad鈥� adjusting, always adjusting. Wind storms of course, played havoc and if my dad 鈥榣ost鈥� his favourite show, up on the roof we鈥檇 go (safety first鈥aha).
Then, my grandmother, who lived in Regina, won a colour TV at the local bingo. She and my grandfather already had a colour TV so that summer, on their annual trip to the coast, we became the recipients of a new, colour TV. We were gobsmacked at what we were now able to see.
With six kids in the house, there was always a 鈥榖attle鈥� of sorts in regards to what should be watched (lucky I was the oldest).鈥�
鈥� There was the CBC which everyone in the early days was forced to watch unless you were fortunate enough to be in an area where a roof antenna picked up signals from KOMO, KING, or KIRO on channels 4, 5, and 7. We had a Yagi roof antenna.
So were able to watch great shows like 鈥楾he Untouchables鈥�.
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I remember rushing home from school to watch 鈥楢merican Bandstand鈥�. And all the crap the CBC had for viewers!
Yes, they had Hockey Night in Canada.
But what was really an outrage is that they assumed that if the the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing, say, the Detroit Red Wings, all Canadian viewers were automatically Leaf fans.
As to how it is now, I am so pleased to see 鈥渁ppointment TV鈥� crashing and burning. The internet and streaming is where it is at now.鈥�
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鈥� 鈥淢y husband and I took our six-year-old son bowling. It was his first time and he really wanted to get a strike. So he laid down on the bowling lane to get a better view and dragged his chest along the lane. What he got from this was a large wooden splinter in his chest. We took him to the ER where he got two stitches. The following week we went to our family doctor (we actually had one back then). He was surprised to remove stitches from someone鈥檚 chest due to a bowling incident.鈥�
Keep that feedback coming everyone, I鈥檓 always happy to share more. Thank you.
PQB News/VI Free Daily editor welcomes your questions, comments and story ideas. He can be reached via email at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca, or by phone at 250-905-0019.