Given that it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada:

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family. She asked the stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy answered, "No ma'am, they're dead."

My turn. Working in Homeless Depot tool department. Saturday, guy buys a pnuematic nail gun, not from me. But he was there for a while, wanted one that would shoot a variety of nails, not doing a roof...blah blah blah. Gets a decent gun.

Sunday morning, a guy calls - "Hey, this nail gun I bought yesterday doesn't work!!" Ok sir, what kind is it? "It's a Porter Cable pneumatic nail gun, model number 1234" OK and what type of compressor do you have it hooked up to? Silence... "compressor??" Yes sir, the little nipple on the end of the handle is a fitting so you can hook it up to a hose running from an air compressor. "oh, I'll be in later to get one I guess" My co-worker suggested that next time that happens, we tell the customer to blow really hard into the nipple fitting. The dept manager was not amused, or so he said when he quit laughing.

I'm the end of the boomer gen, more or less, and this guy was squarely in gen X. Wonder if he ever watched HGTV?

OK, here's a little test. Who is smarter in this scenario?

I was visiting my neighbor this morning, and his 20-something son and GF were there with their brand new freshly purchased labrador puppy. Apparently the kids think puppies are born understanding the English language, because I observed them saying repeatedly over-and-over to the puppy, "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!", ad infinitum. Of course the little lab was standing up on all fours, panting happily, looking at little birdies flying overhead, and at the son and GF, quizzically cocking his little head back and forth. After a few minutes of this, the kids shrug to each other, give up, pick up the little dog, and go trotting off down the street.

I don't view 20 something yr old as "kids" Nonetheless, the "Sit!, Sit!" scneario is just not confined to the younger generation. In local parks, I constantly see dog owners from all age groups and all walks of live who are of the foolish belief and uneducated opinion that issuing multiple commands to "Stay / Sit / Come / Down / Heel" etc is an effective way of (not) controlling their dog.

People think you can teach dogs how to mind with osmosis. Unfortunately, they teach their kids the same way.

I have some new neighbors next door. They have three small kids, the oldest of which is six and female. The girl is already the teenager in Art_in_FL's comment about high-school kids: a punk, insolent, know-it-all witch. I can hardly wait until she becomes a teenager so that particular chicken comes home to roost! I just hope they've moved to another state by then.

Most parents have no control over their kids, and they don't even have a CLUE that they don't. Over and over and over, I hear the same commands, and watch the same total lack of results. Albert Einstein said something about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Writer and long-time NY schoolteacher John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down, said that the American public school system has only two priorities: Control and creating good consumers.

Writer/teacher/school counselor Linda Schrock Taylor says they only have one: money. The more "disabled" kids they can list, the more money they get. It is in their best interests to produce "disabled" kids.

With all the money that is poured into what is laughingly (by other countries) referred to as "the American educational system", is it accidental or deliberate that it doesn't educate?

When 55% of my property taxes goes to education, plus the lottery money, plus the federal funds, with the results we're getting we should cancel the educational system (since it doesn't work) and give the money to the firefighters.

Sue

Hmmmmm. Now that might be one whale of an eye-opening education. Make every kid serve a year or two as a firefighter, paramedic, (insert your favorite public service job), etc before they can graduate. That might be one "wake up and smell the coffee" genius idea. "Sorry, you can't put out that fire, stabilize that broken limb, etc etc, you don't get your diploma."

On the other hand, that just passes the problem on to firefighters, paramedics, etc etc, and they already have plenty to do.

Still, not a bad idea. When I was in high school, I spent a couple weeks before my senior year at a state-sponsored camp for "promising" kids. We lived in military barracks at Camp _____ with responsibility to keep our barracks and personal possessions in tip-top inspectable condition. Everyone participated in a faux "government" including law-enforcement, etc etc. I couldn't bear the idea of sitting through boring political activities, so I signed up for the Highway Patrol program. It was a genius idea, because it was a terrific experience. I spent the entire time with HP guys rescuing, shooting, training, patrolling and so on. Extremely educational and I had the time of my life.

I don't mean to interrupt this thread, but I've been lurking here for a few years and this is the first thread that's really encouraged me to speak, if only to say how discouraging it is.

Speaking as (apparently) one of the younger people reading these boards, it's disheartening to read any thread that accuses our generation (I'm still not clear which generation, other than "young people") of being universally ignorant, unmotivated, greedy, malicious, stupid, and any other collection of negative traits. I know not every poster is making such a widespread, blanket judgment (though a handful have it made crystal clear that they happily are), but this thread seems to have devolved into a collection of anecdotes about how terrible anyone under 30 is.

I might be being thin-skinned here, or misreading the tone or intent in a lot of these posts. I'm not even disputing that my generation is full of idiots (though I'd argue that's not our exclusive province). I just wanted to say how hostile it seems to me, and how unwelcome this board suddenly seems to us younger lurkers.

Again, I apologize if I'm misinterpreting anyone's tone or ideas. But the last page reads like an email my great-aunt Ethel would forward me with a title "FW:FW:FW:FW: CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE KIDS THESE DAYS ON MY LAWN?"

MBO - welcome to ETS. If it takes a controversial thread to get you off the sidelines and contribute to ETS conversations then that's an upside.

Those who are silent cede the discourse.

And bookmark this thread for three decades from now when you are wondering what the world is coming to with all the ignorant whippersnappers of the year 2040.

Seriously, welcome. If you've been here for years you know this thread is not what ETS is about. It's just a few of us chewing the fat. Now please introduce yourself and what has drawn you to ETS before now.

:-)

Welcome!

It's not just the under 30. This morning I went to exchange something at Lowe's. It took the cashier before me (probably in her 40's) 3 times to correctly label something "Defective, doesn't work." Seriously. Attempt one: Defected. Attempt 2: Defective, does (and the proceeded to "dot her I" in that word) Finally she figured it out.

A bunch of it probaby has to do w/ the education system, but probably more has to do with parents. Ignorance breeds ignorance, but you fly to the other end and apparently richness breeds ignorance too. Check out "Jersey shore" or any of the "Real Housewive" series to see how ditzy you can get despite every opportunity available.

I wonder though, how much of it is just every day American life. Example: yesterday we bought a new TV stand. The most I had to do to assemble it was put in 4 screws with an allen wrench. Literally everything else was precut, pre-measured, and "made to fit." No thought what-so-ever on my part. "Convenience" has made it so a person can really tune-out most of life.

Maybe it is a plan...

Is it easier to rule over and take advantage of a large group of people who can't read, can't do basic math, are virtually incapable of figuring anything out, and are used to having everything done for them, or a large group of people who are educated and can think for themselves?

Come to think of it... look around, I think it's working.

Sue