Are Basic Numbers and Letters Even Taught in School Anymore?

[EclipseRedRing]

An interesting thread, I did not know that there was such a thing as a $2 US bank note, or a Sacagawea dollar, despite having travelled several times in the US. I was also not aware that what I call a 'cheque' my American friends know as a 'check'

 

[FarmerTan]

I gotta admit, I write so few checks nowadays that I sometimes have to stop and think about where everything goes.

Yes, it ain't all like riding a bike anymore. At least for me.

Shoot, riding a bike ain't like riding a bike for me anymore!

 

[FarmerTan]

An interesting thread, I did not know that there was such a thing as a $2 US bank note, or a Sacagawea dollar, despite having travelled several times in the US. I was also not aware that what I call a 'cheque' my American friends know as a 'check'

That's cuz we fixed up the Anglish language fer y'all!

 

[Ratso]

4 out of 3 people are lousy at math!

 

[luvmysuper]

Why these young whippersnappers today don't even know how to rig a horse up to a buggy!

 

[Ratso]

This was posted in jokes that make you groan.


Improper Fraction Helpdesk.
Now open 24/7.

I sent that to some of my friends. One person replied with huh? I had to explain it.

 

[Whisky]

It’s like 5/3rd bank. Why would you bank at a place that can’t even fractions right.

 

[Tirvine]

Manual transmissions, clocks with hands, communication skills, basic math....all things that are now lost to history.

A manual transmission out in the country on high speed, winding roads is a joy. A manual transmission in urban rush hour is horrid. You have to ride the clutch and imagine dollar signs.

 

[Rhody]

I gotta admit, I write so few checks nowadays that I sometimes have to stop and think about where everything goes.

The check printing companies must be taking a beating these days. I think my bank will be bought out or fail before I need to order more checks.

 

[DrStrange]

That's already being done. Many have self order kiosks.

The last time that I kiosked a small black coffee at McDonalds,
I had to go twelve levels deep into the menu.

 

[luvmysuper]

The last time that I kiosked a small coffee at McDonalds,
I had to go twelve levels deep into the menu.

To be fair, many kiosk menus are specifically designed to be easiest for those spending more and harder for those spending less.
They ought to have a quick order button for something as simple as coffee, to get folks out of the way faster to allow the next order to go in.

 

[DrStrange]

In fairness, they are not that common.
We've been around the block a few times on the one dollar coin idea with several iterations that just don't seem to be popular.

The way that they introduced the coin was insulting.

They had people vote on which design,
and then they said
Here Is The Dollar Coin That You Wanted,
as if anybody had asked for a dollar coin.

 

[Hair Scraper]

On the flip side of things, I know several people twice my age, so in their late 50's/60's, that when they send an email or text message:

THEY TYPE LIKE THIS AND DONT KNOW HOW TO USE PUNCTUATION OR HOW TO TURN OFF THE CAPSLOCK OR USE SPELLCHEK AND MAKE SURE THEY TYPE THE LONGEST RUN ON SENTENCE THEY POSSIBLY CAN AND EXPECT YOU TO TRY AND COMPREHEND WHAT THEY ARE TYPING ALTHOUGH I AM DOING TOO GOOD OF A JOB BECAUSE I AM ONLY USING THE CAPSLOCK AND ACTUALLY PUTTING WORDS IN A LOGICAL ORDER SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING...........

Ironically, I have a family member that does this, and she complains kids these days can't write in cursive....

The young lady I mentioned in post #59 did have to have her manager read the brand name off of one of the guitars I sold to the store. She couldn’t read cursive. The headstock had Paul Reed Smith’s signature on it.

 

[DrStrange]

Completely agree. I don't expect excellence from McDonalds. I expect it when I'm spending $100 for my meal. Funny story, my wife and I were having an anniversary dinner at the Chicago 4 Seasons. Our waiter brings out the entrees and sets my wife's in front of me and mine in front of her. I tell him, no, I had such and such. The head waiter IMMEDIATELY pops up and asks if there's a problem. I said, not really, just the wrong plates. He switches them, turns to our waiter and says "that will be all." The head waiter attends to us the rest of our meal and the last time I see our waiter he's bussing.

When the orders are switched, I keep it simple.

I don't say anything.
I just point at the person whom I'm eating with.

 

[DrStrange]

Just in the news today:
A guy goes to Hertz Rent a Car at a Louisiana airport to pick up his prepaid car, and the attendent would not let him. Reason? She said he needed a passport. Why? Because he is from Puerto Rico. He explained that Puerto Rico was a commonwealth and as such, was part of the US, and therefore an auto license was all he needed.

She would not even verify it. Instead she called the police, the police came and threatened him by telling him they were going to call the border patrol.

This guy, btw, worked for the Federal Government.

The CEO, called him later, and apologized after the twitter release of the episode, refunded his money and told him he would make sure his workers would be trained properly so that it would never happen again.

I recall a similar incident sometime around the inception of the TSA.
Someone was denied boarding at an airport,
trying to fly to Washington D.C. without a passport.

I recall President Obama saying that he had visited every state in the union
except three,
... all fifty seven.

 

[Go West Young Man]

You people do know ridiculous you sound, complaining about "kids these days", right?
We were all taught a lot of useless junk because it was traditional to do so, and no-one knew any better. Kids might not know how to write in cursive or change a tire, but you probably didn't know how to re-shoe a horse or send a telegraph at their age (and the one guy who's just dying to jump in and tell us he knows how to do this is so very tiresome.)

Kids today can program computers you never even dreamed of, they can navigate technological wonders in their sleep, they can communicate with the whole world in seconds, and are years ahead of us olds at spotting trends and reacting to them.

And I'm pretty sure you don't give someone weird change because you want to have exactly 3 quarters in your pocket, you do it because you want to show off to the dumb kid.

/rant over!

 

[DrStrange]

There's only a narrow range of age of people who can delete old voicemails.

For people older than myself, the technology is too new.

People younger than myself, only use text messages.

 

[luvmysuper]

You people do know ridiculous you sound, complaining about "kids these days", right?
We were all taught a lot of useless junk because it was traditional to do so, and no-one knew any better. Kids might not know how to write in cursive or change a tire, but you probably didn't know how to re-shoe a horse or send a telegraph at their age (and the one guy who's just dying to jump in and tell us he knows how to do this is so very tiresome.)

Kids today can program computers you never even dreamed of, they can navigate technological wonders in their sleep, they can communicate with the whole world in seconds, and are years ahead of us olds at spotting trends and reacting to them.

And I'm pretty sure you don't give someone weird change because you want to have exactly 3 quarters in your pocket, you do it because you want to show off to the dumb kid.

/rant over!

You realize you're posting a rant about other people posting a rant, right?
Your post is no different than anyone who posted here.
I don't think anyone in this thread is trying to solve the worlds problems.
Some discussions are just fun to participate in.
Honestly, I don't understand why some folks feel a need to criticize others for behavior they themselves display.
If a thread is civil and not outside the bounds of the T.O.U., and you don't like it - then don't read it, and don't post in it.
If it IS outside the bounds of our guidelines here, report it.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

A manual transmission out in the country on high speed, winding roads is a joy. A manual transmission in urban rush hour is horrid. You have to ride the clutch and imagine dollar signs.

The clutch will last 150-200k miles, which is not bad. Also, a replacement is not expensive on common budget cars.

 

[DrStrange]

A manual transmission out in the country on high speed, winding roads is a joy. A manual transmission in urban rush hour is horrid. You have to ride the clutch and imagine dollar signs.

I used to work in Maspeth, Queens.

You're absolutely right about urban rush hour.
During some of the times
when you can shift into neutral and set the parking brake in the fast lane,
you know that you have enough time
to drink a beer and sober up before shifting back into gear.
Some of the other times,
you have no idea of how long or briefly you're going to be sitting there
and your leg *can* get tired either from keeping the clutch down
or from repeatedly shifting in and out of gear.