The Next Generation???

[kyratshooter]

I am now very concerned about the next generation that will be making decisions for me and our country during my imminent old age.

I knew things were in a sad state when I retired from the classroom a few years ago. It apparently has gotten much worse since I left the educational field.

Yesterday I needed to wash the dishes and was out of supplies. For me dishwashing has certain requirements; dishwashing liquid soap to put into the machine and soda and peanuts to eat while the machine runs. I went to the local supermarket to purchase these necessities.

I was in the proper isle and decided to purchase a bag of charcoal while there. While looking over the charcoal searching for the cheapest chemical free offering a young woman entered the isle. Petite, willowy frame, light brown hair, twenty-something and a general "knock out".

I am now at the point in life where young women apparently consider me "safe" to approach. Seeing that I was selecting charcoal and deciding I knew what I was doing, she took a bag off the shelf and asked me a question that I would never want to hear from anyone. It deflated my faith in mankind and our future as a nation and as a world population.

She looked up at me with those big brown eyes, held up the bag she had just selected and asked;

"Sir, will this charcoal work for both hot dogs and hamburgers?"

[pete lynch]

And you replied.........?

[kyratshooter]

I replied yes, and a conversation ensued that was very disturbing.

She explained that she was having a real problem because her hot dogs were cooking well but when they were done the hamburgers were still raw and if she left the hot dogs on the grill until the burgers were done the hot dogs tasted burned!

HONEST, I AM NOT KIDDING YOU!!

About that time a young man entered the isle and heard part of the discussion and watched the girl walk toward the checkout. I was quite surprised at the comment he made. Not about her looks or any comment one would expect.

He said; "I had a Dalmatian once, beautiful dog but not a brain in its head!"

[Graf]

I sent my ex wife to the hardware once for a left handed pipe wrench, told her to ask the clerk where the sky hooks were and the pipe wrenchs would be next to them, they would be red in color, yes it was cruel but we always tricked each other like that.

Relating to your story. Dumb can't even be fixed with duct tape! Much of the upcoming generation (not all) has become very dependent upon everyone else which is totally different from my generation we were mainly independent to a fault.

[pete lynch]

Dumb can't even be fixed with duct tape!

Now that there is funny, I don't care who you are...lol. A sig waiting to happen.

I hope someone teaches that young lady how to arrange her hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill so they cook mostly at the same time. I don't grill a lot but I know you can arrange your coals so you have different temps in different areas of the grill.

[BENESSE]

That reminds me of a major pet peeve that I encounter more times than tolerable.
I go to a Home Depot, looking for the right caulk for my bafroom. They got a boatload and I proceed to read the instructions and small print on ALL of them. Still have questions. Call a clerk over to ax, and HE proceeds to read the print on the products to get a clue. Can't figure out why X is better than Y, so I of course walk out frustrated, get on the internet to do research. This sets me back in time and I loose momentum of wanting to be proactive. Finally, what I think I need, I can't get in any store so I have to order. More wasted time.
Times like these, I envy Sourdough.

[backpacker3]

The generation after them is and will continue to be even worse. That's what really concerns me.

And when I saw the thread title I was kinda wondering if this was about Picard and his crew. Lol

[LowKey]

Here ya go Backpacker

double-facepalm.jpg

[Batch]

It's not just the next generation.

I have a co-worker in her mid-60's who is a bit of a ditz.

I have a table in my office and we often eat lunch there. We had ordered the crawfish etouffee and a side of mudbugs. I had a plate of etouffee over rice and another plate with discarded mudbug shells. She came in and said it smelled great and asked what it was. I told her and asked if she wanted a plate. she said she was allergic to shellfish. I said, "Oh, me too!". She said why was I eating it then. I said I had to have someone peel them for me and that way they were no longer in the shell. so they were not shell fish.

She said, "Oh, I didn't know that was how that worked."

Because of the way she said that I felt compelled to explain to her I was joking and that they were obviously still shell fish. I didn't want to risk her trying to eat shelled shell fish.

She said, "Really, then how are you able to eat them if your allergic?" :facepalm:

[tundrabadger]

I feel like I should say something in the young woman's defense, being as I probably only have like 8-10 years on her, but that's just TOO ridiculous. How do people manage to make it to adulthood without picking up a few practical skills along the way? Cooking isn't some kind of strange alchemy, it's pretty easy. Do their parents not teach them or something? Like maybe they didn't have chores to around the house growing up?

[LowKey]

You'd be surprised that probably most people don't know how to cook. It crosses all through the population. Some people have parents who never learned to cook either. My dad once told me when he married my mom he was expecting cooking like he had at her mom's place. It took my mom many years to learn to cook. The fun part was, while she was learning, she taught us to cook at the same time. Now I approach it fearlessly. Some of my friends can't cook much more than boiled frozen vegetables and maybe a fried steak and eggs. Some friends think they can cook, but what they put on the table can be pretty darn scary sometimes.

Home ec is dead in schools these days.
It isn't on The Test.

[hunter63]

..........
About that time a young man entered the isle and heard part of the discussion and watched the girl walk toward the checkout. I was quite surprised at the comment he made. Not about her looks or any comment one would expect.

He said; "I had a Dalmatian once, beautiful dog but not a brain in its head!"

Ahhh, That was about her looks and brightness awareness.....just in code.....

I don't believe it has anything to do with "kids these days"....used to think that....but not any more.

It would appear to me that there are many different levels of intelligence, but only comes to light when two different levels attempt to discuss or do anything together.

The problem here was two dimensions colliding......

Have had this problem with DW in the past, and have figured out that the way they think is just "different"....and as long as both parties are from the same time/space continuum it works fine....They understand each other.

In short, I have learned to just shut up and let it flow at times......

You know,..... they have check books and vote, right?....and they may very well be a majority.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

This brings to mind a gripe I have as a father. The schools send more work home than it appears is done at school. I actually sent one teacher a note that my Daughters time at home was for me to teach her life skills. I followed up requesting more school work be done at school, it needed to be less of an interference with my required curriculum at home. She is 11 now, time to let her run the grill once, she is already well on the way on the stove and oven.

[tundrabadger]

This brings to mind a gripe I have as a father. The schools send more work home than it appears is done at school. I actually sent one teacher a note that my Daughters time at home was for me to teach her life skills. I followed up requesting more school work be done at school, it needed to be less of an interference with my required curriculum at home. She is 11 now, time to let her run the grill once, she is already well on the way on the stove and oven.

Now that's the way to do it! start teaching them young. That's how my parents did it. By the time I was 18, I was a better cook than my mother.

[BENESSE]

I don't buy into the excuse "don't know how to cook". If you can read, you can cook.
Why not just fess up and say "I don't feel like it"?

[Winnie]

I think it's a classic case of Crash's sig, Bee.

[alaskabushman]

I don't think the state of American education is completely to blame (although I don't think it helps much either). I was at the local library yesterday with the family, and my 20 year old sister spied "the book of Eli" film. She turns to my wife and says..."I didn't know there was a book of Eli in the bible!" Now, my two sisters and I were raised in a Christian home and have a very devout father. We were all required to read, understand and learn the bible. Yet somehow things didn't fire right in her head. We all have our brain fart moments.

[Faiaoga]

In defense of schools, I will say that home economics and manual arts are often NOT taught because it requires basis equipment and a lab (too expensive, hire another administrator instead), there may be liability issues (a cultural day competition on Pacific island schools may require that each student have a signed permission slip to husk a coconut), lack of parental training and role models. Besides, our consumer society and the ads we see tell us that we need to have Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Diet Coke with Lemon and so on. Different charcoals for hot dogs and for hamburgers is what we expect today.

And yes, basic skills and useful knowledge are NOT on the test. Thinking and discussion becomes secondary to a quest for higher scores on standardize tests.

Faiaoga (discouraged schoolteacher)

[hunter63]

I'm thinking Krat's experience goes waaaay deeper that knowing how to cook......More thought process.......?

[tundrabadger]

I don't think the state of American education is completely to blame (although I don't think it helps much either). I was at the local library yesterday with the family, and my 20 year old sister spied "the book of Eli" film. She turns to my wife and says..."I didn't know there was a book of Eli in the bible!" Now, my two sisters and I were raised in a Christian home and have a very devout father. We were all required to read, understand and learn the bible. Yet somehow things didn't fire right in her head. We all have our brain fart moments.

All fairness, there are kind of a lot of books in the Bible...but you're right, it could be a case of a brain fart. Pretty long lasting one, mind.