Quote Originally Posted by GGT View Post
I've started Depression era behaviors my gramps taught me, just in case all this "social distancing" tanks our consumption-based economy. That means saving slivers of soap (my sister knitted a pouch for that purpose), using bath water as grey water (for potted plants, and mopping floors), drying clothes on racks and hangers (to save on electric dryer costs), walking to the grocery store (and buying less bulky items), and trying to avoid driving my car (even tho the price of gas is super low).

It's weird. It seems like an experiment now, something that's almost an entertaining challenge, like how long can you hold your piss before your bladder practically explodes? But it's also very real....because I've seen the long lines at emergency food banks, including people driving expensive cars (who probably have expensive mortgages, too) looking for free food because their budget is busted and there's no income coming in. So many millions living on the edge....

We used to laugh that gramps used the same water to boil corn and then make coffee, or that he only bought day-old bread, or used newspaper print to drain dishes and bacon grease, or glued soap slivers together to make a bar, or thought it was "extravagant" to get a cone at Dairy Queen....even tho he was living in an expensive Chicago suburb. We didn't understand how WWI or the Great Depression had affected him, we were just spoiled post-WWII brats who thought he was an old fashioned, eccentric skin-flint.

But now I'm thankful he taught me how to pinch pennies, and separate want from need. Hoping I did the same for my kids. Because this might just be another Depression era. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the *new normal* during this 'social distancing' viral and economic shutdown.
When I was a kid I was poor. There was no money for toys. At the time my parents gave me 0.5 a day and a Star Wars figure cost was 32. Took me a long time to get one action figure. Having a playset was not an option.

Once an office had those styrofoam stuff used for computers in the garbage. I took a piece of it and it was my Hoth playset. To build anything I needed carton. Cigars had small boxes wrapped by carton box. That carton was unwrapped and went to the trash. I asked the retail store to keep it for me. I draw the pieces then cut, folded and assembed either with glue or tape. I took a piece of plywood from the scraps of a workshop and built a Millenium falcon playset with the carton.

So my playsets were made of other people's garbage. Other people's garbage was my treasure. When I watched Back to the future movie, I thought Marty should be rich, because he had a room for himself alone. Having a car also meant he was rich. In primary school I had to walk 1 mile to get to school carrying those heavy books. We ate a small piece of meat once a week. Having a hamburger felt like being a billionaire, only rich kids could afford it. The lowest point was when I was 6 years old. There was that $1 cheap tin truck and my parents could not afford it. Eating was priority. I had anemia during kindergarden.

During high school there was this pretty blonde American girl in an exchange program. She was surrounded by people and I was in the background. Dreaming of an exchange program was not an option. What could my family offer to an American kid? My lifestyle? My diet?

My wife also was so poor that at some point she only had bugs to play and to watch TV she had to be in front of a neighbor's house and watch through the window. Having peanut butter or olives was a luxury. Chocolates and coke were just for rich kids. They lived in such extreme poverty that eating 3 times a day meant wealth.

So your grandparent's behavior does not look eccentric for me at all.

Fortunately things got better later and I could afford a giant Millenium Falcon for $150 which now costs about $1000. It was on my bucket list. Now she has a portable DVD with a screen so she can watch any movie on the bed.