Do Unpleasant Things Have a Purpose?
?
By: Elizabeth Cowan
?
If you had asked that question when this lady was a child, her answer would have been a resounding No.
Let’s consider a few examples from a child’s point of view.
When this lady was around 5 or 6, she caught scarlet fever while on vacation with her parents. Since it is a highly contagious disease, she ended up in the hospital under quarantine.?
According to the Mayo Clinic website, “Scarlet fever is?a bacterial illness that develops in some people who have strep throat. Also known as scarlatina, scarlet fever features a bright red rash that covers most of the body. Scarlet fever almost always includes a sore throat and a high fever.”
In this case, being sick in the hospital without being able to be with her family for what seemed like months was unpleasant. On the other hand, some illnesses require constant care and vigilance to make people well.
After she got well, her mother focused on feeding the family foods that were supposed to be good for the body.
One such food was liver, which is considered to be rich in iron. That is the purpose of eating it. But the taste was beyond unpleasant. The more she chewed it, the bigger it seemed to get in her mouth. It is good for our health but ungodly bad-tasting in the mouth.
Before the world started to disapprove of corporal punishment, spanking children was an accepted form of discipline. Of course, the only ones who approved of spankings were the adults and never the children.
Since firstborn children are the ones parents practice on, this lady received many spankings. By the time the rest of the siblings came along, the parents were too worn out to administer the same level of corporal punishment.
While Mother spanked her daughter, she always said, “This hurts me more than it does you.” Seriously! Either she had a very tender palm, or her Mother did not understand the concept of a spanking.
Years later, Mother explained that it “hurt her heart” to have to spank her child.
Well, guess what, Mother! There are better and more effective ways to discipline an urchin. So, do not try to whitewash the process by saying it made you sad.
So, discipline is necessary. Spankings, not so much.
领英推荐
Hubby’s mother always said, “Never hit a child in anger.” True. But when folks punish their children, the parents are usually angry.
Fast forward to adulthood. Let’s talk about a few items of clothing. More specifically, what the more genteel among us called unmentionables. But we call them underoos, also known as underwear.
Did you know that corsets have been around for centuries? Would it surprise you to learn that the males of our species designed corsets to beautify women? Why do things that make women look attractive also need to be painful? Just asking.
In any case, women strapped themselves into corsets. Never mind that it was hard on the body. So, corsets were around until the 1900s, when they stopped the torture. Apparently, the clothing worn in the flapper era did not require the female form to be squeezed into an hourglass shape.
Then along came the era of girdles. They were almost as bad as the corsets, but they focused on the ladies' tummy and posterior. (And some gents as well.)
The fun never stops. Modern ladies wear Spanx, sometimes several at the same time, to shape as well as contain any possible jiggling.
T-shirts of the past were worn under the shirt. But at some point somebody must have discovered just how comfortable they were. Now, T-shirts are accepted outerwear for men and women.
Of course, we cannot have women be too comfortable. So, the bra is still around to contain the girls.
The T-shirts and the bras are also great as extra layers on the chest to keep the upper torso warm in the winter.
The summers, especially in Texas, make the bras a source of misery.
Clothing without torture is unheard of.
?
?
A great gift for any occasion:
Fractured Proverbs and Twisted Thoughts ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????