LIFE IN THE 1500'S

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water
temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to
be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in
May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting
to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house
had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and
men, then the women and finally the children Last of all the babies. By
then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying,

"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw-piled high, with no wood
underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the
cats
and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it
became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the
roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence
the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get
slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on floor
to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh
until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A
piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying

"thresh hold."

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that
always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things
to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They
would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it
that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge
hot,

peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It
was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would
cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and

"chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content
caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning
death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years
or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of
the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or

"upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would
sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking
along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They
were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family
would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake
up.

Hence the custom of "holding a wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of
places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the
bones to a "bone-house" and re-use the grave. When re-opening these
coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the
inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they
would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin
and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit
out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the
bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a
"dead ringer."

Just For Pinoy Laughs!

Adam & Eve: Islamic Version

Alarm Clock Problems!

Nice Story From China!

A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to
live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li
found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.
Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by
many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li
constantly.
Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never
stopped arguing and fighting. But what made the situation even worse
was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow t o
her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and
unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great
distress.

Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and
dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-
Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs.
She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison
so that she could solve the problem once and for all.

Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, 'Li-Li, I will help
you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I
tell you.'

Li-Li said, 'Yes, Mr. Huang , I will do whatever you tell me to
do ' Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes
with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, 'You can't use a quick-acting
poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause
people to become suspicious Therefore, I have gi ven you a number of
herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body.
Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these
herbs in her serving. Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspects
you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly
towards her. 'Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat
her like a queen.' Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and
hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law. Weeks
went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the
specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr.
Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her
temper! , obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own
mother.

After six months had passed, the whole household had changed.. Li-Li
ha d practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she
almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her
mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and
easier to get along with.

The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to
love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and
relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever
find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a
real mother and daughter. Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what
was happening. One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his
help again She said, 'Dear Mr. Huang , please help me to keep the
poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice
woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die
because of the poison I gave her.'

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. 'Li-Li, there's nothing to
wo rry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were
vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and
your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the
love which you gave to her.'

HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they will
treat you? There is a wise Chinese saying: 'The person who loves
others will also be loved in return.' God might be trying to work in
another person's life through you. Send this to your friends and
spread the love..

Remember, if you delete this mail nothing will happen. No one will
die or fall sick. But... if you send it to others you may change
their life. After all you have got nothing to lose but a lot to gain.

'A candle loses nothing if it is used to light another one'