Times your parents bought you the wrong things...
Discussion
when i was about 8 i had to be circumcised for some medical reason i can't really remember, and it necessitated a night or two stay in hospital.
my parents bought me a present into hospital when they came back in the morning, but they must have told me they'd be bringing something wityh them as I was really excited to find out what is was - wildest dreams were one of those little robots that could carry a drink to you from the kitchen, or a toy i only vaguely remember know which was some articulated tank-tracked crawler thing along the lines of a big trak. More realistic hope was a transformer.
I actually got a go bot.
I was gutted.
my parents bought me a present into hospital when they came back in the morning, but they must have told me they'd be bringing something wityh them as I was really excited to find out what is was - wildest dreams were one of those little robots that could carry a drink to you from the kitchen, or a toy i only vaguely remember know which was some articulated tank-tracked crawler thing along the lines of a big trak. More realistic hope was a transformer.
I actually got a go bot.
I was gutted.
HTP99 said:
Not a present as I saved up myself with money earned and present money; all my mates had BMX's, i wasn't allowed one as I had to have a "proper" bike, I had to spend my hard earned money on a racer!
I'm the kid who went from being the coolest in class to the most uncool after the movie E.T. came out. All my mates had standard Grifters. I had to wait a few years but eventually my folks brought me up to date with not only a Grifter of my own but a GS version no less. It had a better seat, came in black with red decals and better handle bars. Oh yes, I had the pick of the 4th formers that summer. That was until E.T. and all my mates jumped on the BMX bandwagon. They all had mongoose special editions and I wasn't allowed to upgrade as my Grifter was still too new. We'd go to the park and do stunts. Well they would, I'd just manage an inch of air in a 2 second wheelie with my 3 tonne bike while they were doing flips and bunny hops. Man those 4th formers dropped me like the front wheel of my bike...
Some good stories, very entertaining 
I feel for you Ari, that's properly mean. Strangely, I now work with a bloke in his late forties whose father is like that. He needed a car quickly as the head gasket went on his old A4, (not unreasonable after 220k miles!) and so he ended up buying a piece of crap Astra estate on the cheap. When he brought this car to work the next day and I went to get in it at lunchtime, the smell of wet dog nearly knocked me out it hit me that hard when I opened the door
When he got home that evening his old man started on about how he had got him £5k out of the bank for him to borrow to buy a decent motor.
There was no £5k. It's just the sort of thing he does apparently. As if it isn't bad enough for him being back at "home" after the break up of his marriage!
I feel for you Ari, that's properly mean. Strangely, I now work with a bloke in his late forties whose father is like that. He needed a car quickly as the head gasket went on his old A4, (not unreasonable after 220k miles!) and so he ended up buying a piece of crap Astra estate on the cheap. When he brought this car to work the next day and I went to get in it at lunchtime, the smell of wet dog nearly knocked me out it hit me that hard when I opened the door
When he got home that evening his old man started on about how he had got him £5k out of the bank for him to borrow to buy a decent motor.
There was no £5k. It's just the sort of thing he does apparently. As if it isn't bad enough for him being back at "home" after the break up of his marriage!
Not my parents but an Aunt...
Years ago she used to travel to Hong Kong quite a bit for work, and would often bring back a few presents for me and my sister. Not having kids herself she didn't really know what to get most of the time, but me and my sister would always be polite and thank her for whatever it was.
One time I remember she came back with a load of weird t-shirts which didn't really fit me, but I had to try them all on in front of her and be grateful. Some were just huge, and others were far too small - a bit embarrassing for a 12(ish) year old boy. What made it worse was she'd bought my sister a load of "cheap" CD's of all her favourite boy bands as my sister had literally just got her first CD player for her birthday. So I was a bit jealous my sister had got a decent present.
I did have the last laugh tho - a few days later when my sister tried out the CD's she discovered why they were so cheap as they were all cheesey oriental cover albums
Years ago she used to travel to Hong Kong quite a bit for work, and would often bring back a few presents for me and my sister. Not having kids herself she didn't really know what to get most of the time, but me and my sister would always be polite and thank her for whatever it was.
One time I remember she came back with a load of weird t-shirts which didn't really fit me, but I had to try them all on in front of her and be grateful. Some were just huge, and others were far too small - a bit embarrassing for a 12(ish) year old boy. What made it worse was she'd bought my sister a load of "cheap" CD's of all her favourite boy bands as my sister had literally just got her first CD player for her birthday. So I was a bit jealous my sister had got a decent present.
I did have the last laugh tho - a few days later when my sister tried out the CD's she discovered why they were so cheap as they were all cheesey oriental cover albums
I still feel bad about this till this day; my brother and I were getting ready to go to Midnight mass and I was interrogating him about my Christmas present (from my Mum). I asked him a series of questions, culminating in "does it go on land (I really wanted a R/C plane)", and he said no, at which point I got excited as it MUST be a plane.... he realised he had misled me and told me that in fact, I was getting a wooden sledge (and a telescope)! I remember getting quite upset, and my mum overheard me condemning my "useless" present.
It was actually a very nice wooden sledge, but completely impractical and was never used.
It was actually a very nice wooden sledge, but completely impractical and was never used.
I got a pair of Puma Supermatch for starting school, I wasn't supposed to wear them until school started. However, one Saturday morning, just before we went back, the temptation of my mates' new Mitre Mouldmaster was too much. I donned my splendid new trainers and delivered a toe-blaster hot-shot hamish would have been proud of, and promptly separated the toe cap and sole.
Having no option but to 'fess up, the old dear was dispatched to source another set of trainers. Now, this was at the time Nike, and in particular Nike Division trainers were more of a subject of teenage fantasies, than the lingerie section of Littlewoods catalog, and "get me Nike" was my request.
The Mother returned triumphant with a pair of Nicks, yes I typed that correctly, Nicks trainers "you got a free bag"!
I've never had the same fondness for her since.
Having no option but to 'fess up, the old dear was dispatched to source another set of trainers. Now, this was at the time Nike, and in particular Nike Division trainers were more of a subject of teenage fantasies, than the lingerie section of Littlewoods catalog, and "get me Nike" was my request.
The Mother returned triumphant with a pair of Nicks, yes I typed that correctly, Nicks trainers "you got a free bag"!
I've never had the same fondness for her since.
[IMG]http://www.bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/Raleigh84/ral84_06.jpg/[IMG]
I wanted the above for so long, I had the Raleigh catalog and it was even more thumbed than the TCR (Total Control Racing) one and the Lingerie section of the catalog.
I daydreamed about it even more than I did Louise Williams.
Anyway, I was saving up, think it was £180 and I was halfway by later summer/automn, my birthday was November and then there was Christmas after that, which included a major charm offensive to the paper round customers with a knock on the door on the s
ttiest day possible holding out a damp budget Christmas card with as innocent a grin as possible, some tips due. Throw some car valeting, Tomato Picking and extra paper rounds into the mix it went from a distant dream to an imminent possibility. It was top of the teenagers bike range, sort of before you got to stuffy "proper" racers like my only child mates had.
My existing Raleigh Arena was a bit too small and getting knackered, veteran of many jumps, crashes and skid competitions it was never designed for but coped well being made of pig iron and weighing 142 pounds, still lighter than the Grifter as mentioned which was made of Depleted uranium and Black holes, also fitted with a four speed Sturmey Archer hub, three forward speeds and then a random neutral, designed to only happen under full bore acceleration, which usually resulted in death as you immediately lost all drive and careened into the oncoming traffic, luckily usually going so slow so not a problem.
Anyway, I was fantastising about pulling up outside the youth club on my Record Sprint just to catch Louise Williams emerging, looking fantastic and ready for a massive snog and grope session when my dad arrives home and shouts me.
He tells me he has sorted me a bike, bloke at work was selling it, only £40 so he bought it for me, now this was important and unsettling news, it was a Peugeot racer but he didnt specify what model, but it was a good one apparently and in good condition, but I didnt really want it, I wanted the Record Sprint with its moody black paint and contrasting gold Anodized components, not to mention the aerodynamic 501 tubing, not as good as Andys Sirocco which I think had 531 but much more modern looking, anyway I decided to be positive.
It turns up and it wasnt a current model but wasn't super basic either, it had ally rims and centre pull brakes, so it wasnt a premier (Peugeots version of the Arena) but the condition was a bit rougher than advertised, I wasnt very happy with it really, it rode ok but felt like a massive come down, so my dad stripped it and painted it (made a great job) metallic blue, it was pre internet so we wrote to Peugeot to inquire about decals and they sent a set pretty quickly gratis.
So, with my spare cash, I bought a Cateye speedo and an Selle Italia Turbo saddle, some other bits and bats to jazz it up and it looked really good, the turbo saddle had a very Porsche "Turbo" script on either side, so the situation was saved, still see photos of the Record Sprint and get some weird frisson of excitement.
I wanted the above for so long, I had the Raleigh catalog and it was even more thumbed than the TCR (Total Control Racing) one and the Lingerie section of the catalog.
I daydreamed about it even more than I did Louise Williams.
Anyway, I was saving up, think it was £180 and I was halfway by later summer/automn, my birthday was November and then there was Christmas after that, which included a major charm offensive to the paper round customers with a knock on the door on the s
ttiest day possible holding out a damp budget Christmas card with as innocent a grin as possible, some tips due. Throw some car valeting, Tomato Picking and extra paper rounds into the mix it went from a distant dream to an imminent possibility. It was top of the teenagers bike range, sort of before you got to stuffy "proper" racers like my only child mates had.My existing Raleigh Arena was a bit too small and getting knackered, veteran of many jumps, crashes and skid competitions it was never designed for but coped well being made of pig iron and weighing 142 pounds, still lighter than the Grifter as mentioned which was made of Depleted uranium and Black holes, also fitted with a four speed Sturmey Archer hub, three forward speeds and then a random neutral, designed to only happen under full bore acceleration, which usually resulted in death as you immediately lost all drive and careened into the oncoming traffic, luckily usually going so slow so not a problem.
Anyway, I was fantastising about pulling up outside the youth club on my Record Sprint just to catch Louise Williams emerging, looking fantastic and ready for a massive snog and grope session when my dad arrives home and shouts me.
He tells me he has sorted me a bike, bloke at work was selling it, only £40 so he bought it for me, now this was important and unsettling news, it was a Peugeot racer but he didnt specify what model, but it was a good one apparently and in good condition, but I didnt really want it, I wanted the Record Sprint with its moody black paint and contrasting gold Anodized components, not to mention the aerodynamic 501 tubing, not as good as Andys Sirocco which I think had 531 but much more modern looking, anyway I decided to be positive.
It turns up and it wasnt a current model but wasn't super basic either, it had ally rims and centre pull brakes, so it wasnt a premier (Peugeots version of the Arena) but the condition was a bit rougher than advertised, I wasnt very happy with it really, it rode ok but felt like a massive come down, so my dad stripped it and painted it (made a great job) metallic blue, it was pre internet so we wrote to Peugeot to inquire about decals and they sent a set pretty quickly gratis.
So, with my spare cash, I bought a Cateye speedo and an Selle Italia Turbo saddle, some other bits and bats to jazz it up and it looked really good, the turbo saddle had a very Porsche "Turbo" script on either side, so the situation was saved, still see photos of the Record Sprint and get some weird frisson of excitement.
Nanook said:
It's funny how stuff like that used to be so important.
I wish I could go back in time, and not just tell myself, but convince myself to believe, that so much of the stuff you think is important when you're that age, is completely fking irrelevant.
I still wouln't wear Nicks. The problem was the sort of people who wore Nicks were utter tinks, even the rough council types had at least Adidas Kick. So, it was important, important in cementing my love of good trainers, it also worked out OK, as my grandmother wasn't as daft as my mother and took me out the next Saturday where I obtained a set of Adidas TRX10s.I wish I could go back in time, and not just tell myself, but convince myself to believe, that so much of the stuff you think is important when you're that age, is completely f
king irrelevant.Not quite the same thing but my folks used to really misapply the whole 'carrot and stick' thing.
My old man was a really high achiever (started uni at 15, got Doctorate from Oxford, the whole shebang) so as a result I was held to some excessively high standards. Anything lower than an A was seen as a disgrace. When all my friends were getting driving lessons for their 16th, and help to buy their first cars (if not getting them bought for them outright) I was told "You can have driving lessons but only if you get As in every single exam". This kinda sucked ass considering I was doing 10 GCSEs and wasn't even in the top set for most subjects other than languages. Of course my natural reaction was "to hell with that" so I ended up walking everywhere til my late 20s.
My old man was a really high achiever (started uni at 15, got Doctorate from Oxford, the whole shebang) so as a result I was held to some excessively high standards. Anything lower than an A was seen as a disgrace. When all my friends were getting driving lessons for their 16th, and help to buy their first cars (if not getting them bought for them outright) I was told "You can have driving lessons but only if you get As in every single exam". This kinda sucked ass considering I was doing 10 GCSEs and wasn't even in the top set for most subjects other than languages. Of course my natural reaction was "to hell with that" so I ended up walking everywhere til my late 20s.
Ari's tale of woe has reminded me of many let downs, none quite as bad as that though.
I asked for Star Wars bed spread, curtains wallpaper etc. I got Flash Gordon.
I asked for similar Transformers stuff I got some generic robot stuff, it wasn't even Go-bots.
I asked for a game and watch, I got some fruit machine thing that didn't work.
I asked for a small snooker table, boy did I get one, about 6 inches by 12 inches with no fking cues.
One Christmas I asked for a Naf-Naf jumper, the presents were left under the tree and one in particular intrigued me, I slyly, but not slyly enough, had a peak, and from what I could make out it was indeed a Naf-Naf jumper.
Christmas morning came and I duly opened all my presents, no Naf-Naf jumper. Perplexed until my cousins arrived, where the mother presented it to one of them, informing me this was due to me having a sly look. You may think it served me right for being nosey, well a few years later my grandmother was telling the tale of how she caught my mother in at her presents, nosing at her Christmas present fur coat. She still received the coat.
I asked for Star Wars bed spread, curtains wallpaper etc. I got Flash Gordon.
I asked for similar Transformers stuff I got some generic robot stuff, it wasn't even Go-bots.
I asked for a game and watch, I got some fruit machine thing that didn't work.
I asked for a small snooker table, boy did I get one, about 6 inches by 12 inches with no f
king cues.One Christmas I asked for a Naf-Naf jumper, the presents were left under the tree and one in particular intrigued me, I slyly, but not slyly enough, had a peak, and from what I could make out it was indeed a Naf-Naf jumper.
Christmas morning came and I duly opened all my presents, no Naf-Naf jumper. Perplexed until my cousins arrived, where the mother presented it to one of them, informing me this was due to me having a sly look. You may think it served me right for being nosey, well a few years later my grandmother was telling the tale of how she caught my mother in at her presents, nosing at her Christmas present fur coat. She still received the coat.
I remember the constant battle with my parents every time it came to buying anything.
We didn't have a school uniform at our secondary school so if you wore the wrong brands at the best you got a slagging, at worse it was proper bullying.
Trainers - it had to be either Nike, Adidas or Reebok if I wanted to get home in one piece Every time shopping "these Gola/Nicks/No Name are just fine"
Jacket - Ski jackets were the fashion of the time, Campri? Nope didn't get one of those.
Jeans - I wasn't allowed jeans full stop so the Levi's, Wrangler, Pepe, Joe Bloggs argument didn't even happen. I got cords. Corduroy trousers aged 14. Kill me now.
I shouldn't be too hard on my parents - money was obviously very tight - but the daily battle of slaggings and abuse really got me down.
We didn't have a school uniform at our secondary school so if you wore the wrong brands at the best you got a slagging, at worse it was proper bullying.
Trainers - it had to be either Nike, Adidas or Reebok if I wanted to get home in one piece Every time shopping "these Gola/Nicks/No Name are just fine"
Jacket - Ski jackets were the fashion of the time, Campri? Nope didn't get one of those.
Jeans - I wasn't allowed jeans full stop so the Levi's, Wrangler, Pepe, Joe Bloggs argument didn't even happen. I got cords. Corduroy trousers aged 14. Kill me now.
I shouldn't be too hard on my parents - money was obviously very tight - but the daily battle of slaggings and abuse really got me down.
On the bike thing:
One Christmas (I would've been about 12)
"Would you like a bike for Christmas?"
"No, you bought me one last Christmas and it's still good"
"Oh did I? I must have forgotten."
Six weeks later I walked into the kitchen on Christmas morning and she had bought me a bike identical to the one she bought me the previous year. Somewhere there's a photo of me standing between them wearing a really st Christmas jumper
One Christmas (I would've been about 12)
"Would you like a bike for Christmas?"
"No, you bought me one last Christmas and it's still good"
"Oh did I? I must have forgotten."
Six weeks later I walked into the kitchen on Christmas morning and she had bought me a bike identical to the one she bought me the previous year. Somewhere there's a photo of me standing between them wearing a really s
t Christmas jumper
BuzzBravado said:
Asked for a Master System and she went and bought a Mega Drive 
. Didn't take long for me to realise what i had was newer.
I wanted a Mega Drive and got Master System. . Didn't take long for me to realise what i had was newer. I have been a life long Ferrari F1 fan, when I was about 11 got bought a steering wheel and pedals for my Playstation, apparently I was ungrateful because they bought me a Mclaren Mercedes set (not my parents but close friends) and I said I didn't want it.
It must have been 2002 and I was 11 years old. Was pretty hooked on console gaming, starting with a GameBoy Colour and then a Playstation 1. I remember quite a few of my friends had consoles long before I was lucky enough for my parents to get my own, so I would spend hours around their houses gaming (maybe that was the intention!) on evenings and weekends.
We had a good family friend who worked for Microsoft and because I loved computers, gaming, software, I saw this guy as a bit of a hero and was a Microsoft fan-boy. He always had the latest tech, laptops, etc. because of his job and so he got me following the launch of the original Xbox. I was lusting after an Xbox so badly, I would buy the Xbox-Monthly/Gamer/etc magazines that used to come with the free demo discs and read the reviews. How I dreamed of being able to play Halo!
A few months later I won a big competition at school and I guess a few weeks afterwards, our Microsoft-friend was round for the weekend visiting. After lunch, dad disappeared and then comes back carrying a box.....I couldn't believe my eyes, its a freakin' Xbox! I was absolutely over-joyed and shocked, I wouldn't have to go round and beg to borrow my friends consoles now! Dad then turns to our Microsoft-friend and says "Did you manage to get those few things I asked for?" who then pulls out a bundle of brand new Xbox games, can't remember them all but included Halo, Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3. Unbelievable!
We went inside right away to get the Xbox hooked up, all good. Took the new Halo disc out the case and inserted into the console.
Doesn't do anything.
Try turning off, and on, disc out, disc back in. Nothing. Must be a dodgy disc, let's try another game. Same thing, for all the games. As cringey as it is looking back, the eyes were now welling up....I had an Xbox but couldn't play it! We all learnt about Region-Coded discs that day! It turns out that our Microsoft-friend had just been over to the States on business and had managed to pick up all the games cheaply over there, but of course they were NTSC and my Xbox was PAL.
There must have been a few tears because I think dad and friend disappeared sharpish to the nearest Comet/Dixons/GAME/etc. to buy a version of Halo that would work. So I in the end it was all alright, but for a little while it was so so wrong!
We had a good family friend who worked for Microsoft and because I loved computers, gaming, software, I saw this guy as a bit of a hero and was a Microsoft fan-boy. He always had the latest tech, laptops, etc. because of his job and so he got me following the launch of the original Xbox. I was lusting after an Xbox so badly, I would buy the Xbox-Monthly/Gamer/etc magazines that used to come with the free demo discs and read the reviews. How I dreamed of being able to play Halo!
A few months later I won a big competition at school and I guess a few weeks afterwards, our Microsoft-friend was round for the weekend visiting. After lunch, dad disappeared and then comes back carrying a box.....I couldn't believe my eyes, its a freakin' Xbox! I was absolutely over-joyed and shocked, I wouldn't have to go round and beg to borrow my friends consoles now! Dad then turns to our Microsoft-friend and says "Did you manage to get those few things I asked for?" who then pulls out a bundle of brand new Xbox games, can't remember them all but included Halo, Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 3. Unbelievable!
We went inside right away to get the Xbox hooked up, all good. Took the new Halo disc out the case and inserted into the console.
Doesn't do anything.
Try turning off, and on, disc out, disc back in. Nothing. Must be a dodgy disc, let's try another game. Same thing, for all the games. As cringey as it is looking back, the eyes were now welling up....I had an Xbox but couldn't play it! We all learnt about Region-Coded discs that day! It turns out that our Microsoft-friend had just been over to the States on business and had managed to pick up all the games cheaply over there, but of course they were NTSC and my Xbox was PAL.
There must have been a few tears because I think dad and friend disappeared sharpish to the nearest Comet/Dixons/GAME/etc. to buy a version of Halo that would work. So I in the end it was all alright, but for a little while it was so so wrong!
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