[arasina]

I remember my mother letting me drink a little beer and lots of coffee (with rich milk and sugar) when I was a kid;

We must be related. LOL It was the same for me -- a little beer and lots of coffee. Once I got to be really special when my mother let me take that (lots of sugar and milk) coffee to school in a thermos. I was in first grade!

Did you also try tasting a tiny bit of dirt like we did?

[miss marmelstein]

Yes, I tasted dirt - it might taste like chocolate, right? But I was taught never to eat anything off a bush or tree - our parents were smart, common sensical people.

My uncle - the WWII Navy vet and all around tough guy and joker - let me puff on his cigarette - once. He swore me to silence - as if I’d be a squealer and tell my mother on him!

Even the little girls were macho in the ‘50s.