We are having a major surprise snowstorm in PA today. It was supposed to be an inch or less and it is now 5 inches to 8 inches. Meteorologists blew it again. Earliest snowstorm in Philly history. Thanks globull warming.
My son and his roommate were driving home from Penn State today. I saw the forecast and texted him to wait until tomorrow. He said classes were cancelled and it wasn’t snowing at State College. I looked at the radar and told him he was surrounded and would be heading into the teeth of the storm. He said no problem, they had an SUV.
I texted him to get a hotel room if it got too bad on the roads. He texted that the roads were good. Then I got the call. They slid into a pole near Harrisburg and were in a cop car waiting for the tow truck. Neither was hurt. Not only did they not listen to my advice, the boneheads listened to their GPS and got off the relatively snow free Turnpike to take back roads around Harrisburg. They slid into a ditch first and then hit a pole a little later.
Why do 21 year olds think they know more than their old man?
Glad to hear they are going to be alright. It is ridiculously cold here for this time of year, we went from early 90s in October to our earliest measured snowfall ever in 10 short days.
I’ve seen such things before around here of course, this IS the great plains we are talking about, but it got cold and STAYED cold. We’ve had two other measurable snowfalls since then, and several days where it flurried all day long and made the world look like it was swarmed by tiny little white dust bunnies.
Thankfully I like the snow, so it will be a good season for me. Plus, less crime is committed in the cold so that’s going to be nice.
At that age I took up flying lessons in a Cessna 150. My father told me that I couldn’t afford to fly private airplanes. On a landing I crushed the landing gear. Turns out the Old Man was right. I couldn’t afford it.
I think it has something to do with testosterone.
Glad to hear they’re OK.
They’re too ignorant to know they’re stupid.
See, when you’re young you’ve got all the answers. All you’ve got to offer are questions, fears, worries, regrets, and hard earned lessons. Booooooring.
First and foremost, glad they’re OK. I do not miss Northwestern PA snowstorms! Well, it took me some time, but Moms can be trained to listen! Mine had an appointment today and I emailed her first thing and told her to cancel. I saw the weather report. SHE LISTENED!!!!
My old man wondered the same about me, at 21, I’m sure.
Differences abound, but does maturity peak at 21?
Apparently, to legally vote, drink, fight in foreign wars. Even 18 is too immature.
Maturity with wisdom, and an appreciation of parental advice, knowledge, and experience doesn’t seem to kick in until around 28-30, imo.
After a young adult has been out on their own, bought their own house, and see how difficult things really are, do they get an inkling that they don’t know it all, and experiences start to prove their parent’s wisdom was a savior of time, aggravation, if it had been heeded earlier.
About the same time they tire of Ramen, and fast food, and really treasure Mom’s home cooked meals, with gratitude.
And like the prodigal son, their return is celebrated with pleasure, as it should be.
Side note: big cheers, on the red thermometer. Way to go.
“Why do 21 year olds think they know more then their old man”?!Is this a trick ?
They know more because they are young and full of vinegar and piss!This is healthy!
I am glad they are all right and they are at the age where they start to at least think about their mistakes and the consequences,that said,they are young and will never die/let that happen to me ect.,yep,healthy young men.
I got these quotes off Robert Gores article a couple of days ago. Seems appropiate.
Benjamin Franklin said experience was a dear school, but it was a fool’s only teacher.
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.”
Mark Twain
To quote a famous Roman General: “Drunkenness can be cured; and ignorance can be educated; BUT! STUPIDITY is FOREVER!”
I wish I had listened to my dad. Yes, definitely the testosterone. Glad they’re OK.
Boys will be boys. Us dumb old farts don’t know shit from shinola. Glad they weren’t injured.
Because, SUV! I tell them: “Listen, you have four-wheel drive to get you going and anti-lock brakes to stop you straight – but you CANNOT DEFY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS! YA FEEL ME?! But when I turn-around, they’re already gone.
He probably knew even more when he was 18.
The older you get, the less you realize that you know.
He’ll learn.
Glad he’s OK.
Lament is understandable.
With all due respect,
Glass half full, sir. Your son is still with us, thank God.
Earlier this week, some friends I know lost their 30 yo daughter in a pile up on the freeway, through no fault of her own.
18 wheeler accordian’d 5 cars at a clogged exit ramp at rush hour.
Investigation still fact gathering.
Be careful out there folks.
Jim, if young men don’t think they just might be the baddest motherfucker that ever walked the earth until they’re 25 or 26, they’ll just never get that far. And other commenters have said, that’s healthy. Yeah they look stupid from where we sit now, but that’s how they learn. BTW, I peeked out the window, didn’t see any snow. No shoveling for me today.???
For 40 years I drove the treacherous winters of upstate NY. When I finally retired. Just for a moment I was relieved,but then I had to start worrying about my kids driving in it. Just because they become adults does not mean we stop worrying about them It never ends. For some reason (globull warming) it has been really cold here,and snow everyday.
I got one of those.
So glad they are ok. I bet you never thought you knew more than your dad, right?
The brain’s pre-frontal cortex (executive function) doesn’t fully develop in males until they’re 25. So, they are both invincible and make stupid decisions. God knows how any of us made it through those years.
Their other roommate stopped and got a hotel room near Harrisburg. They got an Uber to the hotel and 5 of them are staying in the room. Looks like the SUV is totaled. They are headed to the hotel bar to drown their sorrows. I told Jimmy to put the bill on my credit card. All five of them will pile into the other roommate’s SUV tomorrow for the final leg of the journey.
It took my wife and younger son each 90 minutes to make a 20 minute journey home from work. I’m glad I worked from home. It would have taken me 3 hours to get home from Philly.
Jim, God gives us sons to teach us to pray, kneeling!
Jim,
Buy their beers. Celebrate masculinity and successful death avoidance.
MEN – FUCK YEAH!!!!
Your son isn’t dumb. He learned a lesson.
Your situation with your son is probably no different than all the rest of us has had with ours. I know personally for years my kids thought I was the dumbest man alive, never heeding my advice always running full steam ahead into brick walls. Time has a way of changing that perspective. After my son had finished college and been out on his own for a few years making his way, he told me that his biggest regret was not recognizing how smart I was when he was younger and he should have listened to my advice and wisdom. Life would have been a lot easier.
That was a satisfying moment knowing that I wasn’t the dumbest man alive anymore. Told him that our job as parents is to put information and advice in front of them to consider. What they do with that advice and information is their business. Also told him that I could guarantee that when his kids get to be teenagers they will think that he is dumber than a box of rocks and won’t listen to his advice and wisdom either. It’s just how it works.
When I returned home after graduating, I could not believe how much smarter my Dad had gotten. Amazing!
phuc you old man,what the hell do you know?
at least you have sons–if you can get ’em to adulthood w/o being killed,crippled,or having a record,you’re mostly home free–
with daughters,everything can be perfect but you still have to worry–a psycho might break in on her,her old man might turn out to be a drunk,etc–
Come on, tell the truth. Did any of you listen to your fathers advice when 21. I sure as hell didn’t. I did thank my father later in life for the fact that the number of times we went hunting were equal to the number of times I came home from said trip. I explained had the roles been reversed I was not sure of the outcome. He just smiled and laughed. Thanks Dad for the wisdom that comes with seasoning,
The $1,000,000 question. Don’t worry, you’re a good dad and I’d bet you did some crazy stuff at that age.
At 22, I drove an ’87 mustang with factory tires in a blizzard from DC to Erie PA. Stoooopid but I made it.
“Age considers; youth ventures”
(Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali Poet)
One of our greatest mistakes may be not handing the reins of power to young people soon enough. Yes, they will make mistakes, but their risk taking and their bold distain for the status quo means progress. Remember, we see WWII vets as old men, but they were 19 when they went to war.
So glad all is well!
Ahhh…the best of young life…bold wrong judgement, risk, adventure, an unexpected storm, an unexpected unforgettable slide into a pole, a non fatal non life changing injury under his belt…the best kind of accident, danger survived, a hellva story to tell, lessons learned and statistically a big one over and survived with nothing more annoying then a probable hangover after reliving the adrenaline rush in a bar bending an elbow too many times.
There is nothing more intoxicating then surviving any type of near miss. Punches, bullets, falling air conditioners, dropped refrigerators on the stairs, sliding out of control cars and poles in the wrong place etc. etc. etc.
Many years ago I arrived at an accident scene at 1 am with my wife after a police officer had called waking us both up to tell us our 22 year old daughter had been T-boned at an intersection by a guy who had fallen asleep at the wheel. He said the car was totaled and she was shook up but was OK. The uninsured dishwasher was fine as well.
The destruction of the car was massive. She was rattled but amazingly unscathed. I flashed back on the two major car accidents I had walked away from at 17 and 21…and realized she has gotten this ugly stat/experience under her belt ok…and that was something to celebrate.
“Why do 21 year olds think they know more than their old man?”
Probably the same reasons I ignored my dad’s advice and tried going over a closed pass. Sunk my truck up to the axils. Got to walk 8 miles back to the hwy and another 5 before a highway worker picked me up. Or when I sunk the tractor into the mud up to the frame.
Sure was fun digging them both out while he gloated at my stupidity.
Admin – You cannot put an old head on young shoulders. No matter how smart a 21 year old is, they are still capable of enormous stupidity, especially where 1) pussy is involved, or 2) there is something they want to do.
BTW – I personally would not be paying for their drinks. I would be kicking their asses for being morons. You know me, always ready to forgive and forget. Glad they are safe, but it is not from good planning, but dumb luck. Hopefully they learn.
By the time I was 21, my father never gave me advice. He was smart enough to know I would have ignored it. In hindsight, I wish he would have tried. So you’re doing the right thing.
I totaled 1 truck, 1 car, and 1 motorcycle before the age of 20 years…I coulda been a contender….
That made me laugh out loud.
Another round for BIG ED!
I have kids the same age. They are good/well rounded kids, but do the same things. Seems it takes a few months for things I say/teach them to get through. Funny that they then think it was their idea/thinking. OK.
I smashed every car I owned from 16 to late 20’s. Every one. But my parents didn’t pay for a thing.
A good story was when I was roadracing motorcycles, I was in a very bad accident at Pocono raceway. 7 bike pile-up, me medivac’d, just hung on to life, didn’t walk for 9 months. My Mom later asked me “if god came to you before the race and told you you would be in a bad accident, would you still have done it?” I said “I would double down to win the f’in race and prove him wrong”.
Like others have said here, I really enjoy seeing kids pushing limits. It’s so refreshing compared to the majority today of the ‘stay-in-line’ type.
Some folks simply cannot be told not to pick the cat up by the tail. They have to have the experience first hand.
My experience is that those who listen to those who have already picked up the cat by the tail do far better in life than those that have to do it themselves. We do not need to reinvent the damn wheel. We are far better off using the info and experience that those before us can pass on.
You’re right. When I look back, I guess I was fortunate to listen to my elders. I sought out their lessons. But only from people I respected. I wanted to know why he/she was successful and/or just happy and others were not. Maybe it came from being a salesman from 12 yrs. old. I had to sell to get things done. And I learned early on you had to listen to sell.
I don’t think I see the same level of desire today, but maybe I’m wrong. One thing is for sure though, the youth that get it, but are rare, are going to crush their peers. It brightens my day when I meet the very few that stick out.
Sorry this is off topic. But maybe not? This storm hit here in N-NJ pretty bad. People stuck everywhere. But then what do I see? I’m the only one trying to do something about it. I was the only one out of 20-30 stuck cars that tried to get out of the mess, and I did. Everyone else sat in their cars and waited for help. geeez…. I’m thinking this is just a metro-area problem full of millions of zombies.
Hold my beer and watch this…
Last year my son was in Sea Cadets. Won the military protocol excellence award for his squad. Then went and did the Bataan Memorial death march with a full pack. 35 lbs. Only one in his group to do it with a pack. I gave him advice that one thing builds on another and to keep going in the program. I then offered to pay for flight lessons if he stayed past this last summer. He decided to not continue to the program. Last night he returned his gear and I found out from friends that the cadets have an opportunity to go to Pensacola for introductory flight training along with a flight or two. I assume it was in a small military trainer jet but could have been an F-15 or an f-18 fighter/trainer. With the previous flight training under his belt I have no doubt the pilot would have let him take the controls for a bit. I told him this morning that if he had stayed it out I would have sent him to this program. The look on his face was priceless. Should have listened to the ‘ol man. Missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Maybe next time.
The guys should have taken dependable, road proven Pennsylvania snow camels instead of an SUV
A little slower, but sure footed.
And I’m sure the SUV was rolling on low pro street tires, more show than go.
Glad he’s ok…lesson learned although he is a good decade away from admitting it yet, Dad is always right.
Easter 1970 – I drove from Penn State to Allentown. I had a 429 Fairlane Fastback. Saturday before Easter it was 65 degrees. Took off my snow tires and washed the car. I get up Easter morning – it’s snowing like a bitch. Thing is that the new semester registration was on Monday – so you had to be there if you wanted certain courses.
Called my two buddies that rode down with me. Got the snows back on, and we headed out on I-80 about noon. Snow got worse. There were jack-knifed trucks, cars in ditches. I-80 is real wide, sometimes I couldn’t tell if I was on the road. An announcer on the radio said I-80 was closed. We finally got to Lewisburg about 5:00 pm. Got some food at a pancake house, and finished the last leg on back roads, to Penn State. We arrived at midnight.
12 hours to make a 3 1/2 hour trip.
You can only show them the way. They have to learn for themselves from their own mistakes.