Onion rings in the car cushions do not improve with time.
Interpretation
This quote humorously suggests that some things, like onion rings in car cushions, only get worse over time.
Erma Bombeck uses this playful statement to highlight the absurdity of neglecting small messes or problems, indicating that ignoring such things can lead to deterioration rather than improvement. It's a reminder that time does not fix everything and that certain issues need addressing before they worsen.
In practice
You could use this quote at a casual gathering to lighten the mood while discussing old cars.
We've got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don't know how it was before, so they think, this isn't too bad. We're working. We have our attache' cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don't realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
You hear a lot of dialogue on the death of the American family. Families aren't dying. They're merging into big conglomerates.
Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It's the only thing "real" men do that doesn't seem to threaten their masculinity. To women, it's on the same domestic entry level as putting the spring back into the toilet-tissue holder or taking a chicken out of the freezer to thaw.
Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Maybe age is kinder to us than we think. With my bad eyes, I can't see how bad I look, and with my rotten memory, I have a good excuse for getting out of a lot of stuff.
Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
I've been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I'm just another slightly amusing accountant.
Some people have a love of their fellow man in their hearts, and others require a light anesthetic.
Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it.
I am so busy doing nothing... that the idea of doing anything - which as you know, always leads to something - cuts into the nothing and then forces me to have to drop everything.
I never believed in Santa Claus because I knew no white dude would come into my neighborhood after dark.
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