November 14, 2025 • 38 mins
In typical Bradley fashion, he has a question for the audience that he wants your thoughts on. What were you taught in school that you think was a total waste of time, or what do you wish your parents or teachers taught you that could have been immensely helpful for you?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Coostin's new radio. Well,
it's Friday, Friday. How about that. Here we are, I mean,
just so you can picture where I am, because that's helpful.
It's the uh the iHeart headquarters here in Medford High High.
(00:22):
It's off the building and looking out over through the glass,
I keep the lights way down low. On my right,
I see a bank of TVs. This up very high
tech new place designed specially for this, and so on
my right a bank of TVs, which of course have
the sound down and it's kind of weird, four different
(00:42):
TVs flashing four different programs all the time, but it
keeps the place lit with this nice glow. Directly ahead
of me on the right is another studio, and then
of course the very important the clock. In my job,
the clock is very important, it says on air, and
(01:04):
there's a regular clock with a big hand and a
little hand, and then this additional clock, which is really
important because sometimes I need to end exactly at a
certain time and I can see to the second, like
we have to take some report from somewhere that's dead
Ahead of me on the to the right of that
(01:26):
clock is another glass window that I can see Master
control operator Rob Brooks working the wheel. And Rob Brooks
is extremely good at his job. There's a lot that
I take that I take for granted, and I don't
even know he does. But you know, if he didn't
(01:47):
do it, they'd be big problems. Then. Past Rob, I
see through more glass, I see the w b Z
news studios where where the news gatherers gather. And there
are more of them in the day than at night,
you know. So I see the new studio where the
(02:08):
news anchor will stand and work his or her magic.
And that's what I see. Behind me is the hallway.
It's all glassed in. It's really it's a really cool environment.
It's a real studio and I love being in it.
I feel like I'm really on the radio. So here
we are and it's not quite open lines. But this
(02:29):
is this topic is going to be for everyone once again,
just like the first hour, no opinion necessary. This is
just kind of experiential and these are experiences that everyone had.
I'll share mine. I'm going to be quite frank with you,
and I don't know, I hope I'm not going to overshare.
(02:51):
I'm going to talk about my parents, and things that
maybe they didn't teach me or pass on to me
that they should have that were harmful. And also school,
what school didn't teach me that they should have. That's
been a kind of a crippling thing. And of course
there will be stories, and I'd like you to share
(03:14):
the same thing if you can. Maybe you know something
you didn't learn in school or from your parents that
you've found out later, and you think, why didn't they
tell me that? I wish I hadn't known that I
made some mistakes because I didn't know that. And how
about the flip side of that coin, is stuff that
people drilled into you that you didn't need to know
(03:36):
at all? What did you learn in school? You didn't
need to know at all? So I'll go first, because
if I didn't, you know, it'd probably be too quiet.
The number six, one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty.
What did your parents not convey to you they should have?
And you might feel bad about talking negative of lee
(04:01):
about your parents, you know, that's that's not a problem.
It's if they did anything they did was probably because
that's what people did at the time. It's not and
and people have to be judged in the context of
the time they were alive. So here we go. The
number couple of main things for me that my parents
(04:28):
didn't let me know was, I guess the biggest one
was they didn't let me know the possibilities. They didn't
I never had a full palllette of stuff I could
be when I grow up. I didn't know. They didn't.
They didn't say you can. They didn't say you can
be anything you want. They didn't say you could be
(04:49):
an astronaut or or anything like that. And actually, my
mother was not real keen on me being on the
radio because I was at at a rock station, which
she found to be offensive because it was that was
the joy, not offensive, but you know, it was rock
(05:09):
and it was rock and roll and that didn't really
mix with who she was, so she wasn't really proud
of that. But even before that, they didn't make me
know the possibilities, and they want to know a secret.
They did not even encourage me to go to college,
(05:30):
and I hope I don't know. I'm not trying to
get revenge or anything. I'm just telling you the truth
of how it was, because I think it's cool that
you get to know me. If I'm going to be
talking to you so much. They didn't even encourage me
to go to college. And my father once said, what
do you need to go to college for? And he
(05:51):
was kind of pushing me towards going in the service.
Of course, that wasn't gonna happen, because it was Vietnam
War had just gotten over, and we grew up in
our you know, very single digit years and the year
ten eleven twelve fearing going to Vietnam. So they didn't
(06:14):
encourage me to go to college. And that I'll continue
and let you know how that worked affected me. But
first we have Sarah and Middleborough and I rage anybody
else to talk about this kind of thing and how
a lack of guidance or a lack of instruction or
a lack of something from your parents or your school
(06:35):
has affected you. And on the other hand, stuff you
learned that really was either wrong or unhelpful or unnecessary
in a waste of time. Oh Sarah, how are you well?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
How are you.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I just wanted to make a point that you know
how your parents would tell you do the right thing
and things will work out for you as long as
you work hard. I wish they had told me that
in life there are times that no matter what you
do or how hard you try, they just won't work.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, that's true, and so they made you, they made
you feel like since they said that that you must
not be working hard enough or something like that, that
is your fault.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I think I was just disappointing that you work so
hard and that things didn't go the way that you wanted,
even though you were told that if you did all this,
things will fall your way. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
One thing. One thing that's interesting is I think maybe
that used to be the case more now. It used
to be you work hard, you show up to work,
you'd be honest, it'd be good, and things will go
your way. But honesty is not so much of a
thing now. Hard work's not so much of a thing now,
and those those qualities don't seem to be valued as
(07:50):
much anymore. It may not get you a where you
need to be. It seems to me that it's the
dishonest people that get ahead these days. I mean, is
it possible to even be an honest politician? Can you
get elected being honest? I'm not so sure you can.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
No, And So what was it that you you endeavored
that didn't pan out even though you worked hard, like
your parents told you. What was it that didn't work out?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
There was a number of things, you know, but it
was just it was the point of being so disappointed
that it didn't work out and you tried so hard
and it still did not work.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay. Was there anything that you learned in school? Your
parents maybe, but in school that you just didn't need
to know.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I think algebra.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Oh yeah, I think that's going to come up a lot. Algebra.
I was so bad at algebra that I cried. I
think I couldn't. No, I didn't cry. I couldn't get it.
But when I was in fourth grade, I couldn't get
even the basic rudimentary math. And I did cry in
the fourth grade. But when I got to high school,
I don't think I ever got one problem right. Ever, Ever,
(09:14):
I couldn't understand how anyone would get a problem right.
It's the there's so many ways it can go south. Well, oh, no,
you're supposed to add those two together because they're they're
in a parentheses. Oh whatever. Yeah, So it becomes useful
later kind of when you you get into logic and
(09:36):
debating because if agal be and begle see, then acle
see and and that that kind of thing is good
for debating and arguing. But that's, you know, not real
algebra solved for X. No, thank you can't do it.
And I took.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
In.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I had to take h that in high school. But
I had to take it again in college, I think,
and again I took the lowest level possible and it
was a terrible, terrible struggle, and only through class participation
of something did I scrape by. I have a sense
(10:19):
that people in the broadcast industry are terrible in math.
I think I don't have I can't prove it, but
I just feel it's true, and I've heard anecdotal evidence
that that's true. In general. There are probably exceptions to
the rule, but I've heard that broadcasters are bad.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That if you're good in math, you're horrible in English,
or if you're good in English, you're not good in math.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It could be.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I think.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
There are different kinds of intelligence, okay, And the intelligence
I always liked was wit. I thought wit was the
most valuable thing. I had a friend, Michael Kelly in college,
who was the wittiest guy he knew so much, but man,
could he make you laugh in a super intelligent, dry way.
(11:12):
And that was the kind of intelligence I valued. And
I think Peter, I bet you anything, he was terrible
at math too. He went on to become He went
on to become a big deal journalist that he was
the actually the boss at the Atlantic Monthly. And he
also was the first journalist killed in the Second Gulf War.
(11:33):
So that I can't not bring that up. I really
appreciate the call. Is there anything else you want to share?
Because it's all about the sharing.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh No, I had a teacher that I think teachers
were the best. They instill so much into you and
make you be the person you are, because I mean,
they're generally with you as much, if not more, than
your own parents.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right, And another good thing about teachers is hopefully your
parents are going to instill prejudices in you one way
or the other. You know that they feel one way,
and they're going to teach you to feel that way,
and it's really important to get another look at things,
and hopefully hopefully from a more neutral source. Unfortunately, teachers
(12:24):
are also biased and may either pile on to what
your parents said or refute what your parents say. There's
nobody when you're a kid that's telling you to, you know,
be a skeptic. Really, and you need to be a skeptic.
You're not really allowed to be a skeptic because you
(12:45):
get in college and then they really make a big
deal out of it. Hey, it's so great to talk
to you, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Have a great night.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, it's a very pleasant night here in the briskly
called studios at w b Z the number six ones
seven two five ft. I'm really enjoying speaking with you all,
and I hope, uh someone else will step up and
we can chat and share. Next on WBZ, you're on
Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio
(13:16):
Brother Jay for Dan. On this Friday, and it's a
Friday feeling. It's a very Friday feeling. Friday. For some reason,
I feel like Friday. We're talking about things that maybe
your parents didn't teach you they should have, or maybe
they tried to get you to do that they shouldn't have.
And also foods they tried to get you to eat
that you just couldn't do it. And because they tried
(13:38):
to force you, you hated that food and you still hate it.
You can't stomach. It's because of what your parents did.
And also we look, we talk about school, what is
schools teachy? Hey, you didn't need to know? And in
my case, what in my school not teach? That was
crippling to me. I'll talk about all that go to
(14:00):
Neil and Marjorie in a moment. But our previous color
talked about and I think a lot of people will say, boy,
I really didn't need to know algebra or geometry even more.
But I do want to say this that, speaking of math,
(14:21):
that the Roman numeral system was just the dumbest thing,
so dumb, so clunky, And you think the Romans were
kind of smart, they could have invented a better number system.
Like do you know who invented the number system we
have now? It's an Arabic thing, Hindu Arabic thing. Actually
(14:43):
it's a guy named and I didn't remember this name.
I knew the group, but I didn't know the name.
Brahmagupta introduced the zero around the seventh century, and that
was a game changer. The Romans didn't have a zero,
and that's right there, why their numbers look so cumbersome.
And not only that, Europe didn't get the zero till
(15:04):
around the twelve hundreds, so all that time they're muddling
around without a zero. Okay, let's go to Neil first,
Neil and Watertown.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Good evening, Bradley, Good evening, Neil. I was just thinking,
I'm glad the multiplication table was drummed into my head
and a vague memory of it, maybe in elementary school,
I guess sixty four.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And you know, and you see people now that can't
do it at all. People can't even make change.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Have you had tried to make change in cash these days?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yeah? I used to do when I was a teenage,
well in my twenties or whatever, and now we got spoiled.
But I was thinking. My twelfth grade English teacher was
very fussy. But he said, if you get down to
the last letter of your turn paper, the last page,
you make a mistake. He said, don't erase, type the
(16:05):
whole thing over again. Now. But I liked him very much,
and it is something I disagreed, because he worked just
as hard, and he worked just as hard as he
wanted us to work with and we didn't work as hard.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
But boy, One thing that was a bummer speaking of
a turn paper. One thing that was a bummer back
then is you had to type it. And anytime he
made a mistake, he had to use that that correct
e white out and it got Oh, that was horrible.
I hated that. I'm so glad when computers came and
word processing came. So in real car copies, you remember reading, Wow,
(16:40):
I don't remember that. I remember a real I don't
want to turn this into an old person session. However,
there's a word that only people of a certain age no,
and that is do you know it? Mimeograph?
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yes, I remember those mimeograph.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'm gonna go mimeograph some of these. My mother was
a teacher, and I remember her mimeographing lots of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Okay, So my twelfth grade teacher, he did say he was,
I think, getting his master's degree, and he said, I
wrote a fifty page paper comparing ulysses from ancient times
with James Joyce's ulysses. So it didn't mean anything to me,
but it stuck in my head. And I had eleventh
grade teacher who was just tremendous. He would just get
(17:25):
up in front of the class and talk and there
was no discipline problem because he knew the material so
well and it was interesting and.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's got to be a good teacher. How about your parents?
Are your parents? And I may be putting you on
the spot. Were they were they lacking anyway? Is there
something they should have tied that you found out.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
That God was My failures are because of me. My
parents saved my life. So how so, Uh, it's kind
of delicate, you know, But but I regret that I
wasn't grateful.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Oh wow, so you have.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Not, But I live. I mean, I still I'm not.
George Elliott called it Amelia rist. She was. She thought
she coined the word. And just just you try to derive,
you know, Frank Sinatra, when if you can survive to
one hundred and five, look at all you'll derive out
of being alive. And yeah, just try to live in
(18:22):
that because you're alive.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
That's you can't let that word to me.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I'm me say it again, ameliar rate.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You use the word Amelia wist and Amelia amelior eate,
which is to kind of mitigate a situation to make
it look be a little better, right.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yeah, to be to be a little better and I'm
trying to think of in in uh in this in linguistics,
it's ameliarate. You make it better. To pegerate, you make
it worse.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Okay, so you you did have some guilt because you
weren't thankful enough for your fans gave you. But you're
you're working to ameliorate that situation.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
No, just to really ameliorate my own just life in general.
And I appreciate that you're well, just no matter what,
whether you're religious or not, just appreciate that you're here
and try to ameliorate the present situation as much as
you can, because if if anything, life should be interesting.
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Absolutely, Neil, thank you for sharing. I realize it's kind
of a personal This is personal stuff, and I really
appreciate it. Thank you. And as an aside, I think
we probably should be in the give US Book of
Records for having said the word ameliorate or some form
of it more times in the shortest time than anywhere
(19:46):
in history of the world. So there's that. Let's continue
with Margi after this on Bezy It's Night Side with
Ray Boston's new radio. Thank you all for that time.
Bradley J. For Dan right, and this is night Side,
and we're kind of taking a look back at maybe
(20:08):
what our parents could have taught us and didn't or
instilled in us, or maybe maybe taught us that was unnecessary.
The same with schools. Were your schools lacking or maybe
they taught you something you didn't need? And I'm always
interested in when we're talking about childhood and parents, what
did your parents try to get you to eat that
(20:30):
you just couldn't do it. I have a couple of
things I'll share, and I know everyone does, so when
when you call six one seven, two, five four ten thirty,
I'll ask you that too. I hope it's not too personal.
So it's Margie now and Challengeford. Thank you for calling
six one seven two, five four ten thirty. I'm Margie.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Hey, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I'm rolling along, Margie, rolling along.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
I've been listening good.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
So what do you think?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Well? The things that I wish my parents had taught
me more is one how important the Bible was to read?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And two how to do checks, you know, to balance
a check book and all that because they didn't teach
it in school. My parents, my parents did it. They
still have the book that shows when I was born
seventy years ago. They paid thirty five cents for a
pair of rubber pants. But they never taught it to us,
(21:33):
so it wasn't something we knew about.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, okay, so let's let's hit the Bible first. So
they were not They were not very really just didn't
go to church much and you had a learned they.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Did, but they the Bible wasn't as important as.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
There are a lot of places that the Bible was
kind of something cute to put on the bookshelf, and
they go to church and everything. But so I did that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
When I go, tell me what the Bible means to you?
How does it help you get through the tough times
and in everyday life?
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Because I trust God's you know, I don't always like it,
but my well, we know that God works all things
to the good of those who love Him and are
calls according to His purpose. And they believe that was
my whole heart.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Does God have a plan for Is everything part of
God's plan?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
I think you can work stuff that isn't. I don't
think he wants all of us hurting everything that wasn't
part of his plan, but it can be used to
make us better.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Okay, so maybe.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Hear more about other people all.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So maybe God set things up and gave us our
free will and is sad? Sad said about the bad
stuff we do? And what was the other thing that
you wish that you'd parents had taught you more of?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Check book balancing money?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, you know, I never really got that down. And
it was boy involved some math, and I was so
bad at math as most people in broadcasting, I think are.
That's painting with quite a broad brush. If that's not
true in anybody.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
At least there's one person who is.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, that's right. So I don't think I can't even
add like a column of numbers and you have it
come out right. I just had the ballparking. If it
was just close, i'd say, okay. But yeah, I did
learn how to do that, and that's important. But you know,
it's a lot of people don't even bother to do it,
so they don't know, they don't know if they're out
(23:46):
of whack or not.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, and there's a lot of people in trouble.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I mean, I don't write checks anymore. By the way,
it's nice to not writing checks is a there's a
hassle for me and then doing what you're talking about
balancing and also a hassle. And you know, the bank
could be wrong, but in all my life the bank
was only once but for five hundred bucks. And you know,
I loosely go over my statements and go, I just
(24:16):
kind of see if is there anything weird there? Sometimes
there is and I think, oh boy, that charges me
for something I didn't buy. But invariably I go, oh, yeah,
I remember now. So now it's the incidence of them
(24:36):
being correct is so high that I don't I don't
bother anymore. But that's a good one. But balancing a
check book, at least for the longest time. There's a
real life skill that should be taught in school, and
there are all kinds of them they don't They don't
teach in school. Maybe there should be some course in
I don't know what they would call it, but just
getting through the day kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Your egg, how to make sure you don't start to death?
How do I mean? There were people that are forty
years old and don't know how to do anything? But
can you eat TV? Generous? Like come on right?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
How to use a cutting board a knife without cutting yourself? Stuff?
Like that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, there's a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Well, it's good to talk to you. Now, what about foods?
Was there any any foods as a kid that your
parents try to get you to eat and then you.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Just tomato aspect?
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Wow, that's interesting, So remind me what it is. I
know what it looks like, but how do you make it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Like it's a jello but you put tomato. It was
just so gross and disgusting. And I was a little
kid and now.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
And I'm kind of amazed that people actually made that.
It's so weird.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
It's not a very I mean, I can eat Japanese food,
I can eat raw fish. I can't you know, all
over the world, but that is one thing I will
not eat.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Now. Did they try to force you?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
No? She just made it and we were hungry, so
you try it.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
And did you have to pretend that you ate it
and sneak it to the dog or something.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
No. I didn't need it. I told her that I
was going to throw up.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I see. Well, okay, well, thanks Marjorie. I appreciate it,
and that's good that you checking out.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
You said one more thing, okay, one more what they
didn't teach in school, and that I really wish they
had was about ADHD and I now know that I
had it, And that's why I stayed up all through
high school till three o'clock in the morning, studying and
(26:48):
all this other stuff. And they didn't, you know, teach
any about or anything.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I wonderful they said I was stupid. Maybe they didn't known.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Ability very very it would have been very hopeful. I mean,
I did well and all that, but I had to
work so hard.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So did the other kids make funny of me for
being stupid? Like you, that was your word, not mine.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
The teacher told my parents I was stupid.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Should they use the word stupid?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
They think?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
So, how did that affect you throughout life?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I worked harder and I did better, and I
did really well in school and in the military and
every police office I went to. But it took a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, it must have been kind of a setback when
it comes to self esteem and confidence. When when the parents,
when the teacher says you're stupid, I can't imagine you
work harder, right, like I can't imagine. Let's let's kind
of roll play us out. Maybe it's a pta. I mean,
a parent, teacher of conference, and your parents go and
(28:06):
talk to the teacher and say, well, how you doing,
Sit down and have a seat. You know, I just
got to tell you, mister and missus Margie. Margie is stupid.
Can I don't think that would.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Really you know? And yeah, well, I guess there are
some teachers that aren't to talk of their class.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I guess so. So some people would have been debilitated
by that. But you buckled down and that made you
work harder and you excelled because of it. Good for you.
Could have gone either way, but good for you.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Right, so, thank you for those good questions.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
And the thing that didn't do any good thing good
for me is calculus.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Oh yeah, I think we're going to hear a lot
of that, and you can go I never even took calculus.
I don't even know what calculus is. There, I said it,
I don't. I will admit right now because I'm accompassed broadcaster,
and it's known that no broadcaster is good at math.
We don't have to be good at math. I can
go ahead and say, without fear of you know, I
(29:19):
don't even know what calculus is. Maybe somebody can call
and tell me what is it. I know what geometry is,
and that is not useful. I get geometry and I
can it's definitely. Geometry is definitely useful because you can
you can figure stuff out like how far away is
the moon and how to build a building. And I'm
sure calculus is important too, but I don't know someone
(29:43):
will why so someone help out Margie and Bradley j
and telling them what calculus is. Okay, okay, thank you
very much. That's so great. Ten forty five and it's
a good time to break and now I'll share my
answer is some of these problems. But I'm looking for
years as well at six one, seven, two, five thirty
and it's just a good chance to have a fun chat.
(30:05):
What are some of the things something your parents didn't
teach you, uh or something your parents did spend a
lot of time drilling into your head. They that was
a waste of time. Same with the school. What did
they not teach you? And what did they teach you
that was unnecessary? And do you concur on the whole
(30:25):
you're bad at math thing? And of course I'm particularly
interested in the food because there were a couple of
foods and I have stories to go with it that
were one major one that was a real problem and
I still can't eat it. And I'll share that story.
But I bet you have a story too. It's WBZ.
(30:48):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
We're sharing uh kind of personal tonight, but hopefully it's
done in the casual enough wayte you don't mind participating.
And I'm sharing too. I'm not just asking you. I'm
walking the walk and not just talking to talk. The
question is questions are what are some things they lay
(31:13):
your school, maybe neglected to teach you that left you
kind of in a lurch in real life? And what
are some things maybe they tell you didn't need to know.
Same with your parents. As you have become a little
older or a lot older, in some cases, you look back,
(31:37):
what do you wish your parents had had let you
know about that they didn't and vice versa. Did they
teach something that was just you know, wrong? And of
course the food thing, A lot of folks have food
their parents made them just were determined to have you
eat because they forced it on you. You've you've been
(32:01):
unable to stomach it for your entire life. So I'll
tell my story in the meantime, give me a shout
six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty. I know
it's nerve racking to call the radio station, but I
promise that it would be pretty painless, and I will
make it as as painless as it can possibly be.
(32:23):
It'll be fun. And if you've never called and you
have a good experience, then you've probably become a regular,
and you'll have kind of a new hobby, a new
thing to do. So here's the food situation. You know,
as a young I don't know how old's probably younger
than seven six six five, maybe my parents were big
(32:44):
on oatmeal. And I know that doesn't seem strange to
many of you because you like oatmeal too. And I
and now I like, I'll take like the what do
you call them rolled oats and put them in a
should eat him like cereal. But that's because it doesn't
have that mushy consistency. And and when I was a kid,
(33:08):
my parents ate that stuff, cream of wheat. I've never
had cream of wheat, that's that's really the bottom or
just oatmeal, the mushy oatmeal. And they thought that I
was being stubborn. They didn't know I was physically unable
(33:30):
to put it anywhere near my face. And my brother
said the same affliction. And they thought that I had
taught them that, or that they had learned it through
some observing me not being able to do it. So,
you know, this is another time. Remember this wouldn't fly now.
(33:52):
They'd probably go to jail for what I'm about to
tell you. Back then, no big deal. So they thought
that I was being stubborn, and they said, okay, look
you got it. You can't just do that. You gotta
eat this. We eat it. They couldn't grasp. But it
(34:13):
was repulsive to me. They liked it. It's I guess
it's as if I had a kid and said here's
a kid cat bar and the kid was repulsed by
a kit cat bar. And I wouldn't get it because
I love kit cat bars. Come on, eat it. What's
wrong with you? What are you doing this to me for?
(34:33):
You're just you're just being cantankerous, You're being contrarian. So
that was the way they saw it in small town, Gothic,
rural New Hampshire farm community. So at some point they said,
all right, look, we're not going to give you anything
to eat. Excuse me and tell you eat this bowl
(34:57):
of oh or cream of wheat or something. Remember that
this is this is an old person thing. Remember this commercial.
I want my mapo mapo. I can't believe. I haven't
thought of that word for a long time. This was
(35:18):
like a commercial that came on with kids happily eating
this mushy, gooey god stuff and we didn't need it.
I couldn't eat it. It was not possible. It was not
physically possible for me to do that. They didn't get it,
couldn't do it. It was starving was a happy alternative
(35:40):
to eating that stuff. So we just didn't eat. My
brother and I did not eat. And then after I don't know,
maybe a day, they started to get concerned, like, hmm,
this gets more stubborn than we thought. So then it
was like, okay, just eat one spoonful of this. One
(36:03):
spoonful here it is here, goes to the airplane. One spoonful,
Come on. Can't do it, physically, can't do it, can't
even get it near my face. Then was the next stage. Okay,
if you eat one spoonful of this mushy gooey stuff
(36:24):
that we like, we'll give you hostess twinkies. Still nothing,
And finally, I don't know, you know, time doze the
memory on this, but it was a long time and
they just had they just said to cave in. And never, ever, ever,
(36:45):
ever have I been able to eat the mushy version
of oatmeal, cream of wheat, whatever mapo was. I do
like the taste of rolled oats, either dry or or
with just milk like cereal, but not mushy, and did
related mushy mushy news of course creamed corn uh huh.
(37:11):
Couldn't do it, but it wasn't as horrific as the oatmeal.
And just like many of you, I hope you know,
sometimes I talk about things that I think everybody did,
and then people are amazed at what a bad seed
I was? You did that? Oh my god? Well, you know,
I guess most people fed the dog. You know, you're
(37:31):
kind of when your mother's not looking, you take the
cream corn and put it in a napkin and feed
the dog. But cream corn was anything mushy. Can't do it,
how about you? Now? I could change a lot of
things have changed. Like I used to not like lou
Diamond Phillips. Now I think he's a great actor. There
(37:53):
are other foods that I that I didn't like and
now I do, so who knows, but so far that
is anathema to me, the mushy stuff. How about you?
How about tripe? Well after this, uh, Pat Patrick, We're
going to get to you after this break anybody else.
(38:16):
Things you parents didn't tell you, you wish they did,
and vice versa, and things the school didn't teach you
you wish they did, and stuff you never used in school.
And the food, the food that they tried to get
you to eat, and you just hated it for your
whole life. Six on this chilly Chilli Friday here at
(38:39):
WBZ yep it's news Radio ten thirty
It's night side with Dan Ray. I'm WBZ Coostin's new radio. Well,
it's Friday, Friday. How about that. Here we are, I mean,
just so you can picture where I am, because that's helpful.
It's the uh the iHeart headquarters here in Medford High High.
(00:22):
It's off the building and looking out over through the glass,
I keep the lights way down low. On my right,
I see a bank of TVs. This up very high
tech new place designed specially for this, and so on
my right a bank of TVs, which of course have
the sound down and it's kind of weird, four different
(00:42):
TVs flashing four different programs all the time, but it
keeps the place lit with this nice glow. Directly ahead
of me on the right is another studio, and then
of course the very important the clock. In my job,
the clock is very important, it says on air, and
(01:04):
there's a regular clock with a big hand and a
little hand, and then this additional clock, which is really
important because sometimes I need to end exactly at a
certain time and I can see to the second, like
we have to take some report from somewhere that's dead
Ahead of me on the to the right of that
(01:26):
clock is another glass window that I can see Master
control operator Rob Brooks working the wheel. And Rob Brooks
is extremely good at his job. There's a lot that
I take that I take for granted, and I don't
even know he does. But you know, if he didn't
(01:47):
do it, they'd be big problems. Then. Past Rob, I
see through more glass, I see the w b Z
news studios where where the news gatherers gather. And there
are more of them in the day than at night,
you know. So I see the new studio where the
(02:08):
news anchor will stand and work his or her magic.
And that's what I see. Behind me is the hallway.
It's all glassed in. It's really it's a really cool environment.
It's a real studio and I love being in it.
I feel like I'm really on the radio. So here
we are and it's not quite open lines. But this
(02:29):
is this topic is going to be for everyone once again,
just like the first hour, no opinion necessary. This is
just kind of experiential and these are experiences that everyone had.
I'll share mine. I'm going to be quite frank with you,
and I don't know, I hope I'm not going to overshare.
(02:51):
I'm going to talk about my parents, and things that
maybe they didn't teach me or pass on to me
that they should have that were harmful. And also school,
what school didn't teach me that they should have. That's
been a kind of a crippling thing. And of course
there will be stories, and I'd like you to share
(03:14):
the same thing if you can. Maybe you know something
you didn't learn in school or from your parents that
you've found out later, and you think, why didn't they
tell me that? I wish I hadn't known that I
made some mistakes because I didn't know that. And how
about the flip side of that coin, is stuff that
people drilled into you that you didn't need to know
(03:36):
at all? What did you learn in school? You didn't
need to know at all? So I'll go first, because
if I didn't, you know, it'd probably be too quiet.
The number six, one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty.
What did your parents not convey to you they should have?
And you might feel bad about talking negative of lee
(04:01):
about your parents, you know, that's that's not a problem.
It's if they did anything they did was probably because
that's what people did at the time. It's not and
and people have to be judged in the context of
the time they were alive. So here we go. The
number couple of main things for me that my parents
(04:28):
didn't let me know was, I guess the biggest one
was they didn't let me know the possibilities. They didn't
I never had a full palllette of stuff I could
be when I grow up. I didn't know. They didn't.
They didn't say you can. They didn't say you can
be anything you want. They didn't say you could be
(04:49):
an astronaut or or anything like that. And actually, my
mother was not real keen on me being on the
radio because I was at at a rock station, which
she found to be offensive because it was that was
the joy, not offensive, but you know, it was rock
(05:09):
and it was rock and roll and that didn't really
mix with who she was, so she wasn't really proud
of that. But even before that, they didn't make me
know the possibilities, and they want to know a secret.
They did not even encourage me to go to college,
(05:30):
and I hope I don't know. I'm not trying to
get revenge or anything. I'm just telling you the truth
of how it was, because I think it's cool that
you get to know me. If I'm going to be
talking to you so much. They didn't even encourage me
to go to college. And my father once said, what
do you need to go to college for? And he
(05:51):
was kind of pushing me towards going in the service.
Of course, that wasn't gonna happen, because it was Vietnam
War had just gotten over, and we grew up in
our you know, very single digit years and the year
ten eleven twelve fearing going to Vietnam. So they didn't
(06:14):
encourage me to go to college. And that I'll continue
and let you know how that worked affected me. But
first we have Sarah and Middleborough and I rage anybody
else to talk about this kind of thing and how
a lack of guidance or a lack of instruction or
a lack of something from your parents or your school
(06:35):
has affected you. And on the other hand, stuff you
learned that really was either wrong or unhelpful or unnecessary
in a waste of time. Oh Sarah, how are you well?
Speaker 2 (06:46):
How are you.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I just wanted to make a point that you know
how your parents would tell you do the right thing
and things will work out for you as long as
you work hard. I wish they had told me that
in life there are times that no matter what you
do or how hard you try, they just won't work.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well, that's true, and so they made you, they made
you feel like since they said that that you must
not be working hard enough or something like that, that
is your fault.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
No.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I think I was just disappointing that you work so
hard and that things didn't go the way that you wanted,
even though you were told that if you did all this,
things will fall your way. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
One thing. One thing that's interesting is I think maybe
that used to be the case more now. It used
to be you work hard, you show up to work,
you'd be honest, it'd be good, and things will go
your way. But honesty is not so much of a
thing now. Hard work's not so much of a thing now,
and those those qualities don't seem to be valued as
(07:50):
much anymore. It may not get you a where you
need to be. It seems to me that it's the
dishonest people that get ahead these days. I mean, is
it possible to even be an honest politician? Can you
get elected being honest? I'm not so sure you can.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
No, I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
No, And So what was it that you you endeavored
that didn't pan out even though you worked hard, like
your parents told you. What was it that didn't work out?
Speaker 3 (08:26):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
There was a number of things, you know, but it
was just it was the point of being so disappointed
that it didn't work out and you tried so hard
and it still did not work.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay. Was there anything that you learned in school? Your
parents maybe, but in school that you just didn't need
to know.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I think algebra.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Oh yeah, I think that's going to come up a lot. Algebra.
I was so bad at algebra that I cried. I
think I couldn't. No, I didn't cry. I couldn't get it.
But when I was in fourth grade, I couldn't get
even the basic rudimentary math. And I did cry in
the fourth grade. But when I got to high school,
I don't think I ever got one problem right. Ever, Ever,
(09:14):
I couldn't understand how anyone would get a problem right.
It's the there's so many ways it can go south. Well, oh, no,
you're supposed to add those two together because they're they're
in a parentheses. Oh whatever. Yeah, So it becomes useful
later kind of when you you get into logic and
(09:36):
debating because if agal be and begle see, then acle
see and and that that kind of thing is good
for debating and arguing. But that's, you know, not real
algebra solved for X. No, thank you can't do it.
And I took.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
In.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
I had to take h that in high school. But
I had to take it again in college, I think,
and again I took the lowest level possible and it
was a terrible, terrible struggle, and only through class participation
of something did I scrape by. I have a sense
(10:19):
that people in the broadcast industry are terrible in math.
I think I don't have I can't prove it, but
I just feel it's true, and I've heard anecdotal evidence
that that's true. In general. There are probably exceptions to
the rule, but I've heard that broadcasters are bad.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That if you're good in math, you're horrible in English,
or if you're good in English, you're not good in math.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It could be.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I think.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
There are different kinds of intelligence, okay, And the intelligence
I always liked was wit. I thought wit was the
most valuable thing. I had a friend, Michael Kelly in college,
who was the wittiest guy he knew so much, but man,
could he make you laugh in a super intelligent, dry way.
(11:12):
And that was the kind of intelligence I valued. And
I think Peter, I bet you anything, he was terrible
at math too. He went on to become He went
on to become a big deal journalist that he was
the actually the boss at the Atlantic Monthly. And he
also was the first journalist killed in the Second Gulf War.
(11:33):
So that I can't not bring that up. I really
appreciate the call. Is there anything else you want to share?
Because it's all about the sharing.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Oh No, I had a teacher that I think teachers
were the best. They instill so much into you and
make you be the person you are, because I mean,
they're generally with you as much, if not more, than
your own parents.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right, And another good thing about teachers is hopefully your
parents are going to instill prejudices in you one way
or the other. You know that they feel one way,
and they're going to teach you to feel that way,
and it's really important to get another look at things,
and hopefully hopefully from a more neutral source. Unfortunately, teachers
(12:24):
are also biased and may either pile on to what
your parents said or refute what your parents say. There's
nobody when you're a kid that's telling you to, you know,
be a skeptic. Really, and you need to be a skeptic.
You're not really allowed to be a skeptic because you
(12:45):
get in college and then they really make a big
deal out of it. Hey, it's so great to talk
to you, Sarah.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Have a great night.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, it's a very pleasant night here in the briskly
called studios at w b Z the number six ones
seven two five ft. I'm really enjoying speaking with you all,
and I hope, uh someone else will step up and
we can chat and share. Next on WBZ, you're on
Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio
(13:16):
Brother Jay for Dan. On this Friday, and it's a
Friday feeling. It's a very Friday feeling. Friday. For some reason,
I feel like Friday. We're talking about things that maybe
your parents didn't teach you they should have, or maybe
they tried to get you to do that they shouldn't have.
And also foods they tried to get you to eat
that you just couldn't do it. And because they tried
(13:38):
to force you, you hated that food and you still hate it.
You can't stomach. It's because of what your parents did.
And also we look, we talk about school, what is
schools teachy? Hey, you didn't need to know? And in
my case, what in my school not teach? That was
crippling to me. I'll talk about all that go to
(14:00):
Neil and Marjorie in a moment. But our previous color
talked about and I think a lot of people will say, boy,
I really didn't need to know algebra or geometry even more.
But I do want to say this that, speaking of math,
(14:21):
that the Roman numeral system was just the dumbest thing,
so dumb, so clunky, And you think the Romans were
kind of smart, they could have invented a better number system.
Like do you know who invented the number system we
have now? It's an Arabic thing, Hindu Arabic thing. Actually
(14:43):
it's a guy named and I didn't remember this name.
I knew the group, but I didn't know the name.
Brahmagupta introduced the zero around the seventh century, and that
was a game changer. The Romans didn't have a zero,
and that's right there, why their numbers look so cumbersome.
And not only that, Europe didn't get the zero till
(15:04):
around the twelve hundreds, so all that time they're muddling
around without a zero. Okay, let's go to Neil first,
Neil and Watertown.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Good evening, Bradley, Good evening, Neil. I was just thinking,
I'm glad the multiplication table was drummed into my head
and a vague memory of it, maybe in elementary school,
I guess sixty four.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And you know, and you see people now that can't
do it at all. People can't even make change.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Have you?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Have you had tried to make change in cash these days?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yeah? I used to do when I was a teenage,
well in my twenties or whatever, and now we got spoiled.
But I was thinking. My twelfth grade English teacher was
very fussy. But he said, if you get down to
the last letter of your turn paper, the last page,
you make a mistake. He said, don't erase, type the
(16:05):
whole thing over again. Now. But I liked him very much,
and it is something I disagreed, because he worked just
as hard, and he worked just as hard as he
wanted us to work with and we didn't work as hard.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
But boy, One thing that was a bummer speaking of
a turn paper. One thing that was a bummer back
then is you had to type it. And anytime he
made a mistake, he had to use that that correct
e white out and it got Oh, that was horrible.
I hated that. I'm so glad when computers came and
word processing came. So in real car copies, you remember reading, Wow,
(16:40):
I don't remember that. I remember a real I don't
want to turn this into an old person session. However,
there's a word that only people of a certain age no,
and that is do you know it? Mimeograph?
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yes, I remember those mimeograph.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I'm gonna go mimeograph some of these. My mother was
a teacher, and I remember her mimeographing lots of stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Okay, So my twelfth grade teacher, he did say he was,
I think, getting his master's degree, and he said, I
wrote a fifty page paper comparing ulysses from ancient times
with James Joyce's ulysses. So it didn't mean anything to me,
but it stuck in my head. And I had eleventh
grade teacher who was just tremendous. He would just get
(17:25):
up in front of the class and talk and there
was no discipline problem because he knew the material so
well and it was interesting and.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
It's got to be a good teacher. How about your parents?
Are your parents? And I may be putting you on
the spot. Were they were they lacking anyway? Is there
something they should have tied that you found out.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
That God was My failures are because of me. My
parents saved my life. So how so, Uh, it's kind
of delicate, you know, But but I regret that I
wasn't grateful.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Oh wow, so you have.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Not, But I live. I mean, I still I'm not.
George Elliott called it Amelia rist. She was. She thought
she coined the word. And just just you try to derive,
you know, Frank Sinatra, when if you can survive to
one hundred and five, look at all you'll derive out
of being alive. And yeah, just try to live in
(18:22):
that because you're alive.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
That's you can't let that word to me.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
I'm me say it again, ameliar rate.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
You use the word Amelia wist and Amelia amelior eate,
which is to kind of mitigate a situation to make
it look be a little better, right.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Yeah, to be to be a little better and I'm
trying to think of in in uh in this in linguistics,
it's ameliarate. You make it better. To pegerate, you make
it worse.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Okay, so you you did have some guilt because you
weren't thankful enough for your fans gave you. But you're
you're working to ameliorate that situation.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
No, just to really ameliorate my own just life in general.
And I appreciate that you're well, just no matter what,
whether you're religious or not, just appreciate that you're here
and try to ameliorate the present situation as much as
you can, because if if anything, life should be interesting.
That's a fact.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Absolutely, Neil, thank you for sharing. I realize it's kind
of a personal This is personal stuff, and I really
appreciate it. Thank you. And as an aside, I think
we probably should be in the give US Book of
Records for having said the word ameliorate or some form
of it more times in the shortest time than anywhere
(19:46):
in history of the world. So there's that. Let's continue
with Margi after this on Bezy It's Night Side with
Ray Boston's new radio. Thank you all for that time.
Bradley J. For Dan right, and this is night Side,
and we're kind of taking a look back at maybe
(20:08):
what our parents could have taught us and didn't or
instilled in us, or maybe maybe taught us that was unnecessary.
The same with schools. Were your schools lacking or maybe
they taught you something you didn't need? And I'm always
interested in when we're talking about childhood and parents, what
did your parents try to get you to eat that
(20:30):
you just couldn't do it. I have a couple of
things I'll share, and I know everyone does, so when
when you call six one seven, two, five four ten thirty,
I'll ask you that too. I hope it's not too personal.
So it's Margie now and Challengeford. Thank you for calling
six one seven two, five four ten thirty. I'm Margie.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Hey, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
I'm rolling along, Margie, rolling along.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
I've been listening good.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
So what do you think?
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Well? The things that I wish my parents had taught
me more is one how important the Bible was to read?
Speaker 1 (21:08):
Okay?
Speaker 3 (21:09):
And two how to do checks, you know, to balance
a check book and all that because they didn't teach
it in school. My parents, my parents did it. They
still have the book that shows when I was born
seventy years ago. They paid thirty five cents for a
pair of rubber pants. But they never taught it to us,
(21:33):
so it wasn't something we knew about.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Well, okay, so let's let's hit the Bible first. So
they were not They were not very really just didn't
go to church much and you had a learned they.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Did, but they the Bible wasn't as important as.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
You know.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
There are a lot of places that the Bible was
kind of something cute to put on the bookshelf, and
they go to church and everything. But so I did that.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
When I go, tell me what the Bible means to you?
How does it help you get through the tough times
and in everyday life?
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Because I trust God's you know, I don't always like it,
but my well, we know that God works all things
to the good of those who love Him and are
calls according to His purpose. And they believe that was
my whole heart.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Does God have a plan for Is everything part of
God's plan?
Speaker 3 (22:37):
I think you can work stuff that isn't. I don't
think he wants all of us hurting everything that wasn't
part of his plan, but it can be used to
make us better.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Okay, so maybe.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Hear more about other people all.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
So maybe God set things up and gave us our
free will and is sad? Sad said about the bad
stuff we do? And what was the other thing that
you wish that you'd parents had taught you more of?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Check book balancing money?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, you know, I never really got that down. And
it was boy involved some math, and I was so
bad at math as most people in broadcasting, I think are.
That's painting with quite a broad brush. If that's not
true in anybody.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
At least there's one person who is.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah, that's right. So I don't think I can't even
add like a column of numbers and you have it
come out right. I just had the ballparking. If it
was just close, i'd say, okay. But yeah, I did
learn how to do that, and that's important. But you know,
it's a lot of people don't even bother to do it,
so they don't know, they don't know if they're out
(23:46):
of whack or not.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
Yeah, and there's a lot of people in trouble.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
I mean, I don't write checks anymore. By the way,
it's nice to not writing checks is a there's a
hassle for me and then doing what you're talking about
balancing and also a hassle. And you know, the bank
could be wrong, but in all my life the bank
was only once but for five hundred bucks. And you know,
I loosely go over my statements and go, I just
(24:16):
kind of see if is there anything weird there? Sometimes
there is and I think, oh boy, that charges me
for something I didn't buy. But invariably I go, oh, yeah,
I remember now. So now it's the incidence of them
(24:36):
being correct is so high that I don't I don't
bother anymore. But that's a good one. But balancing a
check book, at least for the longest time. There's a
real life skill that should be taught in school, and
there are all kinds of them they don't They don't
teach in school. Maybe there should be some course in
I don't know what they would call it, but just
getting through the day kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Your egg, how to make sure you don't start to death?
How do I mean? There were people that are forty
years old and don't know how to do anything? But
can you eat TV? Generous? Like come on right?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
How to use a cutting board a knife without cutting yourself? Stuff?
Like that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, there's a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Well, it's good to talk to you. Now, what about foods?
Was there any any foods as a kid that your
parents try to get you to eat and then you.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
Just tomato aspect?
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Wow, that's interesting, So remind me what it is. I
know what it looks like, but how do you make it.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Like it's a jello but you put tomato. It was
just so gross and disgusting. And I was a little
kid and now.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
And I'm kind of amazed that people actually made that.
It's so weird.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
It's not a very I mean, I can eat Japanese food,
I can eat raw fish. I can't you know, all
over the world, but that is one thing I will
not eat.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Now. Did they try to force you?
Speaker 3 (26:06):
No? She just made it and we were hungry, so
you try it.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
And did you have to pretend that you ate it
and sneak it to the dog or something.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
No. I didn't need it. I told her that I
was going to throw up.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I see. Well, okay, well, thanks Marjorie. I appreciate it,
and that's good that you checking out.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
You said one more thing, okay, one more what they
didn't teach in school, and that I really wish they
had was about ADHD and I now know that I
had it, And that's why I stayed up all through
high school till three o'clock in the morning, studying and
(26:48):
all this other stuff. And they didn't, you know, teach
any about or anything.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I wonderful they said I was stupid. Maybe they didn't known.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Ability very very it would have been very hopeful. I mean,
I did well and all that, but I had to
work so hard.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So did the other kids make funny of me for
being stupid? Like you, that was your word, not mine.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
The teacher told my parents I was stupid.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Should they use the word stupid?
Speaker 3 (27:24):
They think?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
So, how did that affect you throughout life?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I worked harder and I did better, and I
did really well in school and in the military and
every police office I went to. But it took a
lot of work.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Yeah, it must have been kind of a setback when
it comes to self esteem and confidence. When when the parents,
when the teacher says you're stupid, I can't imagine you
work harder, right, like I can't imagine. Let's let's kind
of roll play us out. Maybe it's a pta. I mean,
a parent, teacher of conference, and your parents go and
(28:06):
talk to the teacher and say, well, how you doing,
Sit down and have a seat. You know, I just
got to tell you, mister and missus Margie. Margie is stupid.
Can I don't think that would.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
Really you know? And yeah, well, I guess there are
some teachers that aren't to talk of their class.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
I guess so. So some people would have been debilitated
by that. But you buckled down and that made you
work harder and you excelled because of it. Good for you.
Could have gone either way, but good for you.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Right, so, thank you for those good questions.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
And the thing that didn't do any good thing good
for me is calculus.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Oh yeah, I think we're going to hear a lot
of that, and you can go I never even took calculus.
I don't even know what calculus is. There, I said it,
I don't. I will admit right now because I'm accompassed broadcaster,
and it's known that no broadcaster is good at math.
We don't have to be good at math. I can
go ahead and say, without fear of you know, I
(29:19):
don't even know what calculus is. Maybe somebody can call
and tell me what is it. I know what geometry is,
and that is not useful. I get geometry and I
can it's definitely. Geometry is definitely useful because you can
you can figure stuff out like how far away is
the moon and how to build a building. And I'm
sure calculus is important too, but I don't know someone
(29:43):
will why so someone help out Margie and Bradley j
and telling them what calculus is. Okay, okay, thank you
very much. That's so great. Ten forty five and it's
a good time to break and now I'll share my
answer is some of these problems. But I'm looking for
years as well at six one, seven, two, five thirty
and it's just a good chance to have a fun chat.
(30:05):
What are some of the things something your parents didn't
teach you, uh or something your parents did spend a
lot of time drilling into your head. They that was
a waste of time. Same with the school. What did
they not teach you? And what did they teach you
that was unnecessary? And do you concur on the whole
(30:25):
you're bad at math thing? And of course I'm particularly
interested in the food because there were a couple of
foods and I have stories to go with it that
were one major one that was a real problem and
I still can't eat it. And I'll share that story.
But I bet you have a story too. It's WBZ.
(30:48):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
We're sharing uh kind of personal tonight, but hopefully it's
done in the casual enough wayte you don't mind participating.
And I'm sharing too. I'm not just asking you. I'm
walking the walk and not just talking to talk. The
question is questions are what are some things they lay
(31:13):
your school, maybe neglected to teach you that left you
kind of in a lurch in real life? And what
are some things maybe they tell you didn't need to know.
Same with your parents. As you have become a little
older or a lot older, in some cases, you look back,
(31:37):
what do you wish your parents had had let you
know about that they didn't and vice versa. Did they
teach something that was just you know, wrong? And of
course the food thing, A lot of folks have food
their parents made them just were determined to have you
eat because they forced it on you. You've you've been
(32:01):
unable to stomach it for your entire life. So I'll
tell my story in the meantime, give me a shout
six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty. I know
it's nerve racking to call the radio station, but I
promise that it would be pretty painless, and I will
make it as as painless as it can possibly be.
(32:23):
It'll be fun. And if you've never called and you
have a good experience, then you've probably become a regular,
and you'll have kind of a new hobby, a new
thing to do. So here's the food situation. You know,
as a young I don't know how old's probably younger
than seven six six five, maybe my parents were big
(32:44):
on oatmeal. And I know that doesn't seem strange to
many of you because you like oatmeal too. And I
and now I like, I'll take like the what do
you call them rolled oats and put them in a
should eat him like cereal. But that's because it doesn't
have that mushy consistency. And and when I was a kid,
(33:08):
my parents ate that stuff, cream of wheat. I've never
had cream of wheat, that's that's really the bottom or
just oatmeal, the mushy oatmeal. And they thought that I
was being stubborn. They didn't know I was physically unable
(33:30):
to put it anywhere near my face. And my brother
said the same affliction. And they thought that I had
taught them that, or that they had learned it through
some observing me not being able to do it. So,
you know, this is another time. Remember this wouldn't fly now.
(33:52):
They'd probably go to jail for what I'm about to
tell you. Back then, no big deal. So they thought
that I was being stubborn, and they said, okay, look
you got it. You can't just do that. You gotta
eat this. We eat it. They couldn't grasp. But it
(34:13):
was repulsive to me. They liked it. It's I guess
it's as if I had a kid and said here's
a kid cat bar and the kid was repulsed by
a kit cat bar. And I wouldn't get it because
I love kit cat bars. Come on, eat it. What's
wrong with you? What are you doing this to me for?
(34:33):
You're just you're just being cantankerous, You're being contrarian. So
that was the way they saw it in small town, Gothic,
rural New Hampshire farm community. So at some point they said,
all right, look, we're not going to give you anything
to eat. Excuse me and tell you eat this bowl
(34:57):
of oh or cream of wheat or something. Remember that
this is this is an old person thing. Remember this commercial.
I want my mapo mapo. I can't believe. I haven't
thought of that word for a long time. This was
(35:18):
like a commercial that came on with kids happily eating
this mushy, gooey god stuff and we didn't need it.
I couldn't eat it. It was not possible. It was not
physically possible for me to do that. They didn't get it,
couldn't do it. It was starving was a happy alternative
(35:40):
to eating that stuff. So we just didn't eat. My
brother and I did not eat. And then after I don't know,
maybe a day, they started to get concerned, like, hmm,
this gets more stubborn than we thought. So then it
was like, okay, just eat one spoonful of this. One
(36:03):
spoonful here it is here, goes to the airplane. One spoonful,
Come on. Can't do it, physically, can't do it, can't
even get it near my face. Then was the next stage. Okay,
if you eat one spoonful of this mushy gooey stuff
(36:24):
that we like, we'll give you hostess twinkies. Still nothing,
And finally, I don't know, you know, time doze the
memory on this, but it was a long time and
they just had they just said to cave in. And never, ever, ever,
(36:45):
ever have I been able to eat the mushy version
of oatmeal, cream of wheat, whatever mapo was. I do
like the taste of rolled oats, either dry or or
with just milk like cereal, but not mushy, and did
related mushy mushy news of course creamed corn uh huh.
(37:11):
Couldn't do it, but it wasn't as horrific as the oatmeal.
And just like many of you, I hope you know,
sometimes I talk about things that I think everybody did,
and then people are amazed at what a bad seed
I was? You did that? Oh my god? Well, you know,
I guess most people fed the dog. You know, you're
(37:31):
kind of when your mother's not looking, you take the
cream corn and put it in a napkin and feed
the dog. But cream corn was anything mushy. Can't do it,
how about you? Now? I could change a lot of
things have changed. Like I used to not like lou
Diamond Phillips. Now I think he's a great actor. There
(37:53):
are other foods that I that I didn't like and
now I do, so who knows, but so far that
is anathema to me, the mushy stuff. How about you?
How about tripe? Well after this, uh, Pat Patrick, We're
going to get to you after this break anybody else.
(38:16):
Things you parents didn't tell you, you wish they did,
and vice versa, and things the school didn't teach you
you wish they did, and stuff you never used in school.
And the food, the food that they tried to get
you to eat, and you just hated it for your
whole life. Six on this chilly Chilli Friday here at
(38:39):
WBZ yep it's news Radio ten thirty
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