Millennial math

[metricmonkeywrench]

Yesterday while I was out and about running some errands I stopped in to throw some gas in the truck for the week. It’s a fairly large chain with a red logo and I’m in there at least twice a week to fill the cars as it’s convenient and the fuel seems to be good quality. I guesstimated about $70 which I pulled out and counted twice while I was in the line waiting for my turn to pay. When I got to the cashier I handed her the stack of bills which consisted of three twenties, one five and five ones and told her how much I was paying. Being a “regular” at the station it was evident she was relatively new. She fanned out the bills and tapped each one with her thumb. She then laid them out one by one on the register as if counting them out. She got a confused look and gathered them back up and did it a second time, then said “sorry I’m having a having a moment” or something like that. The third time she laid down the bills I counted out loudly

Twenty
Fourty
Sixty
Sixty five
Sixty six
Sixty seven and so on

I could almost feel the folks in line counting along with us and as I wandered out a in line guy wearing a Captain America shirt mouthed “wow” to me.

She looked a bit embarrassed and started putting the cash in the register and turned to the other cashier, a manager, and said she needed a break, he told her in a few as the store was really busy.

I’ll omit her specific details which are irrelevant, but note that she was relatively young with made up hair and fancy store bought nails.

Thus ended my first personal experience with the effects of “new math”

[country gent]

My Grandmother worked at Tidckeys in Toledo in the 30s as a check out girl. She could still total and make change in her head at 90 years old. These new kids dont know how easy they have it. With the new registers doing it all for them.

Want to really see smoke when you have a bill of $70.xx give them $80.XX. they cantd understand you dont want the coins back.

[hc18flyer]

If I don't have the exact change, I hand them change to get a nickle or dime back rather then pennies. The younger checkers go crazy, I need to stop! It had a good thing the register gives them the correct change! Most wouldn't or can't count your change back. hc18flyer

[Ed K]

Want to really see smoke when you have a bill of $70.xx give them $80.XX. they cantd understand you dont want the coins back.

I did that a while back. The casher appeared confused and then called the manager over claiming I must be trying to scam the store.

[Paper Puncher]

If I don't have the exact change, I hand them change to get a nickle or dime back rather then pennies. The younger checkers go crazy, I need to stop! It had a good thing the register gives them the correct change! Most wouldn't or can't count your change back. hc18flyer

You get the confused look as they stare at the change. I usually tell them just punch the numbers into the register. Five cents or a dime pops up for change and the usual response in amazement is how did you know that?

[DocSavage]

I've amazed store clerks when figuring sales tax. Ours is 6.25% I multiply times 6 cents on the dollar and add a couples pennies dor the odd .25% and usually within 2 or 3 cents kids are amazed that U can do it in my head. You should see the looks when I convert Km to mph and convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. They don't teach kids usefull everyday stuff now 2nd grade I learned how to make change for a dollar,simple machines lever/fulcrum,inclined plane etc, look both ways before crossing the street.

[redriverhunter]

My daughter who is 25, is in fast food business told me part of the interview process is making change. We also talked about how debt cards are part of problem. When she got her 1st job, we got her a checking account. She could not wait to get a debit card like moms. These cards take all the thinking out of it. Tip for all use cash with the youngsters if paying with exact change, give them the change first.

[contender1]

I was raised in a family restaurant business. We were taught to count back change to the customer. Due to my early years of doing that,,, I can easily make change in my head, AND often give a cashier odd amounts so I don't get back a bunch more change. (Buy stuff costing say, $16.32 & giving the cashier $21.50.) When I say my change is $5.18 sometimes I get the confused looks,, but in my small town rural areas,, often,, it's NOT a problem. Heck, my local PO likes it because I don't take all their small change. We've discussed it.

I haven't had a manager called by a STUPID cashier yet thinking I was trying a scam. But I HAVE had cashiers give me back the wrong change, while never counting it back. I never move my hands towards myself,, saying; "Please double check this!" (And this is if it's in my favor or their favor.) Or, I lay it down, asking for the receipt (if not given one,) and ask them to double check it as politely as I can.

I used to think home schooling wasn't a good idea. Then, back in the early 1980's,, I met a kid who was my first actual exposure (to my knowledge) a teen who'd been home schooled. While his social skills were a little lacking,, this kid was a hard worker, smart, and obviously well educated. I still chuckle at something he did.
He bought a 1957 Chevy,, black, with a small broken window,, off of a movie set. The movie was filmed locally, a "B" grade, lower budget film. If I recall correctly,, he gave them $1800.00 for it. He kept it,, fixed the window,, drove it,, and when the movie hit the world,, smiled as he drove the 1957 Chevy that Patrick Swazey had used in "Dirty Dancing." He later sold that car for a VERY handsome profit as all of us locally KNEW he'd gotten the car directly & it was a Dirty Dancing collectable. He moved from the area & I often wonder how he's done.
My point is that now,, I know several home schooled people. By far,, they seem to have a MUCH better education of REAL WORLD skills than many of the public education types out there.
Of course,, it's probably because they have parents that actually CARE about their kids.

Schools need to go back to the hard core basics of Reading, Writing & REAL Math! School sports dominate the money & prestige. All while a real education takes a back seat to all kinds of non-essential classes. And the vocational classes that made the students USE the skills they learned need to be stresses. Shop, Home Economics, the 4-H, FFA, etc. all should be required classes in some form.
Heck,, hand a kid a check book, and teach them about accounts & balances.

Sadly,, we've about lost a lot of it.
Not completely,, but too much is already lost.

[elmacgyver0]

I'm pretty lousy at math myself but compared to some I'm a genius.
I pretty much don't use cash anymore.

[Three44s]

My Grandmother worked at Tidckeys in Toledo in the 30s as a check out girl. She could still total and make change in her head at 90 years old. These new kids dont know how easy they have it. With the new registers doing it all for them.

Want to really see smoke when you have a bill of $70.xx give them $80.XX. they cantd understand you dont want the coins back.

This is me! But you get the weirdest looks from the cashier!

I am trying to both them and myself a favor and it’s amazing how few get it.

I am sure the fancy machine tells them so as well but dumbfounded they are irregardless!

Perhaps I need to announce what is about to happen to reduce the shock?

Three44s

[DougGuy]

In all my schooling, speed math taught for 6 weeks in my senior year was THE MOST beneficial course of all! They would give us a sheet with maybe 20 problems on it, and you had ONE MINUTE to see how many you could get correct.

The problems were usually addition, with 5 columns of numbers, 4 and 5 digits wide. We were taught to quickly scan the vertical column starting on the right for tens, and combos that make tens, you "carry" these tens mentally then write down the right hand digit of the solution while carrying the rest to the top of the next column.

I got where I could nail those sheets of paper, toss my pencil loudly on the desk to announce I was through, some in only 30 seconds. You get really good at this after a while, you can be scanning and adding one vertical column, and your brain is separately scanning for tens in the next column over before you even get to it so you are multi tasking and multi threading these problems, you actually have 2 or maybe more strings running at the same time as you work your way through the numbers.

I had no idea how valuable this 6 weeks of cramming math would help me in real life.

I started in the shipyard in 1970, as a shipfitter, then as a burner, and I moved on a lot in the next 50yrs, always involved in steel fabrication and welding. You MUST HAVE strong math skills to rise to the top of the heap and be known as one of the best guys they had.

Steel is always in fractions in the US, and you need to be able to quickly add multiple fractions together in your head, and arrive at a correct answer. Not only in thickness, but weight, and figuring the weight of an assembly by calculating the pounds per square foot of the steel.

I was also a CCO certified crane operator, and again you MUST HAVE a strong working knowledge of all 4 math operations, since making a lift is done with numbers FIRST.

If they taught THIS kind of math in the last two years of high school, Americans would be MUCH BETTER prepared for real world applications once they finish school. We would have more hands on craftsmen, and less thumbers of smart phones, we'd have more skills and trades not afraid of denim work clothes and leather gloves, and less thugs and complainers or career welfare recipients.

They should bring back SHOP CLASS! And include this math in class and homework. And yes it works for counting money in a flash as well..

[redneck1]

I prepaid for some gas awhile back with a fifty , could only fit something like thirty five in the tank .
Went back in for my change and the dufas at the counter gave me back thirty five dollars .
I spent a good three or four minutes trying to explain that he gave me back to much money and only owed me fifteen .
He didn't want to hear it , I was wrong , he was right and that's all there was to it .
I went back in the store a few days later and the manager was working the register so I asked her what happened to the dimwit

Oh we fired him for stealing from the register . His drawer was short a few hundred bucks two or three days in a row .

Then I explained what happened with me , He wasn't stealing just couldn't add and subtract

[Scrounge]

Yesterday while I was out and about running some errands I stopped in to throw some gas in the truck for the week. It’s a fairly large chain with a red logo and I’m in there at least twice a week to fill the cars as it’s convenient and the fuel seems to be good quality. I guesstimated about $70 which I pulled out and counted twice while I was in the line waiting for my turn to pay. When I got to the cashier I handed her the stack of bills which consisted of three twenties, one five and five ones and told her how much I was paying. Being a “regular” at the station it was evident she was relatively new. She fanned out the bills and tapped each one with her thumb. She then laid them out one by one on the register as if counting them out. She got a confused look and gathered them back up and did it a second time, then said “sorry I’m having a having a moment” or something like that. The third time she laid down the bills I counted out loudly

Twenty
Fourty
Sixty
Sixty five
Sixty six
Sixty seven and so on

I could almost feel the folks in line counting along with us and as I wandered out a in line guy wearing a Captain America shirt mouthed “wow” to me.

She looked a bit embarrassed and started putting the cash in the register and turned to the other cashier, a manager, and said she needed a break, he told her in a few as the store was really busy.

I’ll omit her specific details which are irrelevant, but note that she was relatively young with made up hair and fancy store bought nails.

Thus ended my first personal experience with the effects of “new math”
It's not New Math. That's what I got out in SoCal in the early 60's. As immortalized by Tom Lehrer. There have been dozens (if not more) of attempts to deemphasize mathematics if favor of developing our cute little personalities. ;) I have always had troubles with math, myself. Getting New Math in elementary school didn't help, and having teachers as late as high school who couldn't or wouldn't tell me why I needed it didn't help. I eventually found out for myself how many fields it was necessary in, and started applying myself to learning what I could, which turned out to be "Not very much! I've decided I must be brain damaged. My little brothers & sisters, and my own children, have no trouble with math. I do. Particularly anything the least little bit abstract. I was severely anemic as an infant, and nearly died. Needed blood transfusions. I figure that is probably why. I did wind up teaching math for a short time. Certified to mid-level & intermediate math, and for a time was the only math certified sub in the district. My math teachers, at least, would have totally freaked.

Bill

[Ickisrulz]

What is this cash you are all talking about?

[megasupermagnum]

It's possible she really was having a moment. Dyslexia, or something else.

She also probably was not a millennial.

[Mal Paso]

I had an argument with a convenience store clerk as it seemed like he was charging for every other item. There was no winning and I left shaking my head. A couple miles down the road I started laughing. The clerk Really hated the boss and was giving away the store.

[todd9.3x57]

2 + 2 = brown

[Paper Puncher]

Scrounge

I was taking some math classes in night school. The professor was talking about teaching things that made no sense and no one ever used. Her first example was "why would anyone memorize the decimal equivalent of a fraction". I explained to her that shop drawings (machine shop) would have the hole sizes in decimal. For example .375, and drill bits where listed in fractions 3/8 (didn't want to explain letter and number bits LOL). She was amazed. Said she never knew that anyone really used that type of information.

[dverna]

I rarely use cash anymore. Both are selfish reasons. First, I get cash back on my CC, and that adds up to about $700/year. Second, tired of dealing with dumb cashiers.

BTW, these are typically the folks who believe they are underpaid and do not show up for work every day

[Smoke4320]

Last week we had a birthday group come out for paintball. One 18-22 year old woman came to the shop and asked to use a lighter for the cake candles. I handed her a book of matches she looked me and well hope someone down there knows how to use these

[Winger Ed.]

The professor was talking about teaching things that made no sense and no one ever used. .

I've had people ask that many, many times.
Things like, 'Why do I need to take Algebra? I'm not going to be an architect, or math teacher'.

I tell them, "It teaches you how to think, and figure out problems".

[Beerd]

299455
..

[~JM~]

Remember the $2 bills?

Hand out a few of those & see what happens.

I haven't tried a Susan B. Anthony dollar yet.

[marlin39a]

Laser month I was making a small purchase at the dollar store. It came to $3.15. I gave the young lady cashier 13 quarters, and said here’s $3.25. She stared at the coins, and asked me if she was supposed to count it. I said, well yes. She had to call for a manager to count it. She is the product of the public schools.

[Handloader109]

Remember the $2 bills?

Hand out a few of those & see what happens.

I haven't tried a Susan B. Anthony dollar yet.HA, I've a good friend who goes to the bank and gets a roll or two Susan Bs, or the indian dollar coins whenever he is going to travel. He LOVES to give those things out and gets priceless looks from almost everyone. Most think he is scamming them. He does $2 bills also. Same results.

I usually hand change and I do my best to try and make it correct change for whatever I'm buying. If it is a dime or a nickel over, I usually have ti tell them what I'm doing......

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Minerat]

Remember the $2 bills?

Hand out a few of those & see what happens.

I haven't tried a Susan B. Anthony dollar yet.

Went into a Burger King last week and got a Centennial Kennedy half dollar because the kid running the register did not know what he had. He had some gold coins too? They were Sacagawea dollars I left them. I like giving them the pennys it blows their mind.... $5.08 give them $5.03.

[Winger Ed.]

Somehow or another, I ended up with several dollars worth of modern/sandwich post '65 coin Kennedy 1/2 dollars.

Almost every time I spent a couple, the cashier would smile, take a dollar out of their pocket for the register,
and keep the coins.

[Bmi48219]

.299463

I was so mathematically oriented my first boss put me on the cash register on day one.

[Finster101]

299463

I was so mathematically oriented my first boss put me on the cash register on day one.



Never had one of those. Started at a service station at 15. Change in one pants pocket and bills in a shirt pocket.

[john.k]

Long before millenials ,young people couldnt do the 3Rs ......we used to employ young men at sandblasting,and they had to allot a time to each job...($200/hr way back when) ,anyway ,none could tell the time ,and we used to buy the 12" dia. battery clocks by the carton,each blaster had to copy the clock hands onto the job sheet for each job.......and back in the 80s ,at least half couldnt write ,and a fair number couldnt read more than a few words (easy ones)......thats 40 years ago.

[rockrat]

Watch what happens when you give them cash, say $50 for a $46.25 purchase and they punch it in the register , then you go, "Oh , Wait, here is a quarter" and give it to them. You can just see the glazed look in their eyes and they just lock up.

One time I tried that, the young gal just looked at them and said,"OK, you get $4 back then.". She just smiled and said " I majored in math." I was impressed.

[Winger Ed.]

299463



As a little kid, the driver for our regular ice cream truck that came around the neighborhood had one of those.
I hadn't started school yet, and at the time, it was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen.
I never saw him load it, so I thought it made money somehow.

[Bmi48219]

Never had one of those. Started at a service station at 15. Change in one pants pocket and bills in a shirt pocket.

Weekly subscription collections for my night Detroit Free Press route. Even in 1964 we were told not to collect after dark.

[truckerdave397]

Remember the $2 bills?

Hand out a few of those & see what happens.

I haven't tried a Susan B. Anthony dollar yet.
I love those $2 bills. I hand them out at the gentleman’s club. In the low light the dances think that they are 20s and they treat me like a king.

[William Yanda]

Nothing new, about 10 years ago I was in line behind a guy who found the change after he had handed the cashier bills. When he said, "Here, I have the change." the cashier's response was; "I can't do that. I already runged it up"

[FISH4BUGS]

I was at the bagel shop and asked for a half pound of cream cheese along with the bagels. The reply? "...I'm sorry sir....all we have are the 8 ounce sizes".
Kill me now.

[sharps4590]

Don't get me started.

I used to be on the board of our local credit union. Not long ago I went in to transact some business and the very young girl behind the counter was new to me. There was some writing involved in whatever I was doing and when I handed the paperwork to her, her face went blank. She told me, and I quote, "that looks like chicken scratching to me, I can't read any of it." Now, I have a very tidy handwriting and have been complimented on it all my life so I was taken aback. I asked the young lady what she couldn't read and she said none of it, "we weren't taught to read or write cursive" Had to have been an imported college student from some city somewhere because they still teach it locally. She got one of the other girls and we finished up. Next time I was in she was no longer there....and I had nothing to do with her being fired but she had no business working there. I often wonder how her math skills were?

[farmbif]

a lot of things in this world of ours dont seem to add up anymore

[Thumbcocker]

If the world made sense men would ride side saddle.

[gwpercle]

She will be fine ... she has a " Smart Phone " ... it will get them all through life ... maybe .

Ive lived 72 years and my dad lived 98 years without ever needing a smart phone ...
I think that's a good thing ... I feel sorry for what's happenening to our children and grandchildren .
Gary

[gwpercle]

Don't get me started.

I used to be on the board of our local credit union. Not long ago I went in to transact some business and the very young girl behind the counter was new to me. There was some writing involved in whatever I was doing and when I handed the paperwork to her, her face went blank. She told me, and I quote, "that looks like chicken scratching to me, I can't read any of it." Now, I have a very tidy handwriting and have been complimented on it all my life so I was taken aback. I asked the young lady what she couldn't read and she said none of it, "we weren't taught to read or write cursive" Had to have been an imported college student from some city somewhere because they still teach it locally. She got one of the other girls and we finished up. Next time I was in she was no longer there....and I had nothing to do with her being fired but she had no business working there. I often wonder how her math skills were?

:goodpost: LIKE

Gary

[Winger Ed.]

I love those $2 bills. I hand them out at the gentleman’s club. In the low light the dances think that they are 20s and they treat me like a king.

Shame on you!

They don't even pay those girls enough to buy clothes--- and you're tricking them like that.

[Bmi48219]

The problem, from my perspective, started 30 some years ago. Our older daughter is 42. When she entered 7th grade each kid was given a calculator. The math teacher explained to us parents that kids no longer would need to know math; they just needed to know how to use a calculator. Her reasoning was there would always be calculators so why waste the time teaching them the basics.
Nearly fifty years ago HP came out with a calculator that would do complicated mathematical functions. They retailed for $500.00 and if you could afford one, assignments were a substantially easier. Unfortunately the proud owners discovered they weren’t allowed in classes or for taking tests.

[imashooter2]

Yesterday while I was out and about running some errands I stopped in to throw some gas in the truck for the week. It’s a fairly large chain with a red logo and I’m in there at least twice a week to fill the cars as it’s convenient and the fuel seems to be good quality. I guesstimated about $70 which I pulled out and counted twice while I was in the line waiting for my turn to pay. When I got to the cashier I handed her the stack of bills which consisted of three twenties, one five and five ones and told her how much I was paying. Being a “regular” at the station it was evident she was relatively new. She fanned out the bills and tapped each one with her thumb. She then laid them out one by one on the register as if counting them out. She got a confused look and gathered them back up and did it a second time, then said “sorry I’m having a having a moment” or something like that. The third time she laid down the bills I counted out loudly

Twenty
Fourty
Sixty
Sixty five
Sixty six
Sixty seven and so on

I could almost feel the folks in line counting along with us and as I wandered out a in line guy wearing a Captain America shirt mouthed “wow” to me.

She looked a bit embarrassed and started putting the cash in the register and turned to the other cashier, a manager, and said she needed a break, he told her in a few as the store was really busy.

I’ll omit her specific details which are irrelevant, but note that she was relatively young with made up hair and fancy store bought nails.

Thus ended my first personal experience with the effects of “new math”

There’s a reason the cash registers at McDonalds have pictures of the food on them.

[Land Owner]

Please, please, p-lease, please, please don't get started on why Janey, John-boy, Jamequa, Juleon, Carmaleta, and Ramon (to name a few), as minimally High School and sometimes College graduates in the U.S.A., CAN'T READ! Mathematics and Science! HA! FREE public education and expectations unfulfilled. Let the Government be the children's babysitter.

I interviewed a college degreed, State Registered, Professional Engineer, recommended his hire, and worked with him as an Associate. He stayed at work, a lot, after everyone left for the day, a practice not discouraged in salaried individuals.

Seven months into the association, an email of his to our client "backfired". MS-Word autocorrect butchered a client's last name in an obvious, disgraceful, and discriminatory way. The engineer hadn't proof-read his work before sending it. I got a heated call from Management to "straighten out this mess" and further to review all of this engineer's ongoing work.

I was completely blindsided to discover that he was FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE in spite of his documented career that included significant projects in engineering - projects that I knew about before he worked with me. I was confused by the discovery and discouraged in HIM. I proof-read his work for a year. HE DID VERY GOOD WORK, which I told him (and Management) personally. The man just could not read very well. Why he didn't improve after 20-years in the practice of engineering, IDK!!!!!!!!!!

He left us and took a job with the Government, where he continued his career to retirement! Go figure.

[Finster101]

It is not all the school systems fault. How many parents know their kid can't read and do little to nothing about it? Worse is how many parents have no idea their kid can't read?

[Tazman1602]

I was counting back change at 14….

Art

[Soundguy]

Yesterday while I was out and about running some errands I stopped in to throw some gas in the truck for the week. It’s a fairly large chain with a red logo and I’m in there at least twice a week to fill the cars as it’s convenient and the fuel seems to be good quality. I guesstimated about $70 which I pulled out and counted twice while I was in the line waiting for my turn to pay. When I got to the cashier I handed her the stack of bills which consisted of three twenties, one five and five ones and told her how much I was paying. Being a “regular” at the station it was evident she was relatively new. She fanned out the bills and tapped each one with her thumb. She then laid them out one by one on the register as if counting them out. She got a confused look and gathered them back up and did it a second time, then said “sorry I’m having a having a moment” or something like that. The third time she laid down the bills I counted out loudly

Twenty
Fourty
Sixty
Sixty five
Sixty six
Sixty seven and so on

I could almost feel the folks in line counting along with us and as I wandered out a in line guy wearing a Captain America shirt mouthed “wow” to me.

She looked a bit embarrassed and started putting the cash in the register and turned to the other cashier, a manager, and said she needed a break, he told her in a few as the store was really busy.

I’ll omit her specific details which are irrelevant, but note that she was relatively young with made up hair and fancy store bought nails.

Thus ended my first personal experience with the effects of “new math”

And not only new math.. but new minimum wage.. and younger people that have sat at home for 2+ years getting free money or not having to work.

[Battis]

Even more than the math, I'm concerned about what's happening to the English language. Punctuation, spelling, sentence structure...
LOL, LMAO, etc, ain't gonna cut it.

[.429&H110]

My youngest was born 1981, has the talent to be an artist.
As a artist, he wasn't interested in math.
One day he was quite stumped so we did the lesson.
"No, that's too hard, and I'll never use it"
The lesson was translating triangles, turning them, shrinking them, moving them. It isn't hard. I explained how computer animation works, with many turning triangles, he said no, the computer does that. No, the computer does nothing but what you tell it to do, it's how animation works, you need this. Two years later at the University of the Arts, he hit the triangles again, and it was too late, they weren't teaching, they were doing. Talent will only get you started. I warned my boy that Art is a trade, and hard work too, you need a fire in the belly to succeed. No fire in that one. I taught all my kids to make change, odd that the school skipped that lesson. I believe if you don't teach your kids to read, no-one else will. Anything our gov't touches, it ruins, schools for example.

My grandfather reported that in 1926 a carpenter said to him:
"I am glad to teach a young man my trade, but d-----d if I have to teach him to read a ruler".

Thousandths of an inch? That's too hard...I'll never use it...

[Bmi48219]

My brother and his wife raised a large family. Around 1980 they decided to Home School after seeing the decline of ethics and morals in the education system. All their children have prospered and have retained the values they learned as kids. My wife was concerned about home schooling not providing social interaction. That turned out to be a non-issue. If I was starting a family now I couldn’t live with sending my kids to a state funded school.

[Shawlerbrook]

Probably an indictment of our public education system. They are so busy teaching CRT, gender identity and what pronouns are acceptable they have no time to teach reading, writing and arithmetic. Our local small viewership TV station hires new anchors right out of college. You wouldn’t believe the words that they cannot pronounce correctly and they are all native speaking Americans.

[TurnipEaterDown]

It's not new (bad skills coming out of public school).
I was a fast food restaurant assistant manager in the mid 1980s. I had one young lady (HS grad) that would make change at the register by staring blankly at the drawer, pulling some bills and a mitt full of change, and hand it back. She would be off $20-30 from drawer balance after doing $250 in business.
So, we made her (and everyone else, couldn't hurt those feelings you know...) use the change calculation tool built into the register.
She still couldn't identify which coin was which, and would be off $10.

Trust me: nothing wrong organically with her (i.e. no deformity / retardation), just plain incapable and didn't care.

[imashooter2]

It's not new (bad skills coming out of public school).
I was a fast food restaurant assistant manager in the mid 1980s. I had one young lady (HS grad) that would make change at the register by staring blankly at the drawer, pulling some bills and a mitt full of change, and hand it back. She would be off $20-30 from drawer balance after doing $250 in business.
So, we made her (and everyone else, couldn't hurt those feelings you know...) use the change calculation tool built into the register.
She still couldn't identify which coin was which, and would be off $10.

Trust me: nothing wrong organically with her (i.e. no deformity / retardation), just plain incapable and didn't care.

Why was she still working the second day?

[Battis]

I was a truant officer for 12 years. I can say there was nothing wrong with the school system that attentive parents couldn't fix. I'd say that 99% of the kids I dealt with were products of their bad family lives.

[pworley1]

My grandfather was born in 1898. He went through all the grades available to him 8. He had a copy of the math book they used. It was used for all grades. It started with counting and simple arithmetic in the front and finished with geometry and trigonometry at the end. He could multiply and divide four digit numbers faster in his head than I could with a pencil and paper.

[am44mag]

It's possible she really was having a moment. Dyslexia, or something else.

She also probably was not a millennial.

Yeah, that's a very real possibility. People like to throw the word Millennial around, but in reality, Millennials are getting older. The oldest are 41 now. The youngest are 25-26.

Gen Z (Zoomers) are the youth of today.

[john.k]

Funny about making change........I had an after school job selling chocs,drinks etc in a picture theatre.....comission only,and pitiful......so we used to overcharge a few cents for everything,and keep it ....but the old woman who ran the concession would be furious if there was any evidence of wrong money at settle up time....as was the theatre manager ,with dire threats of calling police in.......you had to be on top of your tally all the time ,as the old woman would have spot checks.

[john.k]

Back in the dim dark ages,the department (and the whole govt) paid wages in cash .....the pays had to be made up day before payday......and strangely enough ,the cash float had to be correct at the end of the shift ,down to the cent after making up 1000 plus pays...Millions of $. a month......and it was ,we had a dedicated crew that did not make any mistakes..........then the pays were contracted out to an armoured delivery co,who were just getting into pays.......and mistakes .....must have cost the armoured delivery co a million bucks in losses.

[bedbugbilly]

So . . . is it any wonder why so many of this particular generation don't have the ability to pay back their student loans and think that the rest of us, who have worked hard for year and paid our own way, should foot the bill and pay it back for them?

[redneck1]

I have to agree its not just a single generation . I sold my house trailer a couple weeks ago , this afternoon I was taking the last couple boxes of stuff from the garage and sweeping the floor when the new owners showed up . Nice enough people .

The husband mentioned how happy he was that mortgage company let them finance more then the appraised value , it let them roll both their car payments into it and is going to save them money because the interest is only 6.3% vs the 9% they was paying .

I couldn't help myself , I asked how 6.3 over 30 years was cheaper then 9 over 5 years because the math doesn't add up in my head .

I didn't stick around for an answer .

[Soundguy]

"If" they send the money that would have went to both car payments "AND" THE HOUSE payment in for the next 5 years..then..yes..they could save a few %... But as you imply... They likely won't... And just got 30yr car loans....

[john.k]

If house price inflation really takes off over the next 10 or so years,then the house will be near enough free.

[Wag]

I'm an accountant. If you tell me you want 2 + 2 to equal 3.7654, you got it. :grin:

--Wag--

[Kevinakaq]

I was at the bagel shop and asked for a half pound of cream cheese along with the bagels. The reply? "...I'm sorry sir....all we have are the 8 ounce sizes".
Kill me now.

Not too long I was at the grocery store buying Friday donuts for the team and when asked by the cashier how many and I said four dozen. She had a confused look on her face so I told her again… She started using her fingers to try to count them before I finally realized she didn’t understand how to multiply, 4×12, or didn’t understand how many is in a dozen. I finally told her 48 after several tries as I could not comprehend someone not understanding that 4 dozen is 48.

Bless her little heart…

[Buzz Krumhunger]

I've amazed store clerks when figuring sales tax. Ours is 6.25% I multiply times 6 cents on the dollar and add a couples pennies dor the odd .25% and usually within 2 or 3 cents kids are amazed that U can do it in my head. You should see the looks when I convert Km to mph and convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. They don't teach kids usefull everyday stuff now 2nd grade I learned how to make change for a dollar,simple machines lever/fulcrum,inclined plane etc, look both ways before crossing the street.

Yeah, but 2nd graders today know how to put a condom on a banana.

[Kevinakaq]

Yeah, but 2nd graders today know how to put a condom on a banana.

LMAO, sad but true…

[1hole]

Today's "educated" youth are much more ignorant than they used to be, not because the kids are dummer but because current professional educators are much dummer. But the kids think they are smarter than ever because their teachers have always told them how smart they are. Gag.

My late father had to quit school after grade 8 and go to work for a salary in the Great Depression; he was a smart guy who could do math or read a book and understand what it was about.

Now ... some of my grandkids were homeschooled and, by today's standards, they are over educated and can actually think and carry on an intelligent conversation; I love it. But, those who have attended government schools are as immature and ignorant as their mind numbed peers; it makes me want to cry for them because I love them and they deserve better.

American colleges & universities should be forced to pay back any kid who ever paid them a dime for a so-called education of "studies" (i.e., costly but useless studies such as snowflake women, queers, blacks, comic books, movies, modern art, ect.).

[farmbif]

part of the problem with education system these days might be they teach what to think, like regurgitating information on a test, but they dont teach people how to think. if that makes any sense.
and those financial things. I dont think any school k-12 teaches anyone how to keep a budget. and something none of our politicians have learned that you can't spend more than you earn.

[johnd5412]

part of the problem with education system these days might be they teach what to think, like regurgitating information on a test, but they dont teach people how to think. if that makes any sense.
and those financial things. I dont think any school k-12 teaches anyone how to keep a budget. and something none of our politicians have learned that you can't spend more than you earn.

Agreed and when you consider that the vast majority of educators are liberal, teaching critical thinking is not ideologically an intelligent approach. Consider the gov't loans for college; a concocted plan to create and buy more liberal voters and it is working.

[.429&H110]

I had to work out redneck1's numbers on my fingers and toes.
Likely the bank got the new homeowner an affordable single monthly payment.


My dad taught me the rule of 72
Fingers and toes you can figure out what a payment will be.
The rule of 72 states divide 72 by the interest rate to get the doubling rate.
It's an approximation but close enough.

Example: 18% interest doubles every 4 years
Borrow a dollar, in four years pay back two dollars.

7% doubles in ten years, so a 20 year mortgage doubles twice
Borrow a dollar pay back three in 240 payments.

The optimist had a 5 year car loan? At 9%
72 by 9 is eight year doubling period.
Pay back 1car + 5\8car (principle+interest) in 60 payments. $1000 a month or so.
72 divided by 6.3 is close to 11 years this is a close approximation after all
So a 30 year loan would double three times ... 30\11 is kinda 3
(1 dollar borrowed + 3 dollars interest)\360
house and cars $1200 a month, or a bit more.

So the bank got him into a house for an extra $200 a month.
If this guy is a clever yankee, he will put the wife and kids to work, get a second job and make principle payments, and make 6.3% on his own money. Then he buys a boat, goes broke.

How do we teach the thumb-twiddlers that the bank is not your friend?
Car loan=debtor
Business loan=client
Huge unsecured debt=partner

[Land Owner]

Florida's Legislature and Governor this week passed and signed a bill into law that mandates the teaching of fundamental finances, bill paying, banking, balancing a checkbook, etc., prior to graduating from HS. The Libs are losing their minds over it.

Math is STILL a mandatory and ABSOLUTELY necessary study (evil for some) for Architecture, Chemistry, Engineering, Pharmacy, Physics, and a host of other degrees, without which, buildings and bridges would fall, cars and trucks would cease to run, medicines would kill rather than cure, man would never leave Earth to visit Space, and no one would make change from a dollar for coffee at the diner.

[1hole]

part of the problem with education system these days might be they teach what to think, like regurgitating information on a test, but they dont teach people how to think. if that makes any sense.

Farmer, professional educators claim to be horrified at teaching kids anything by rote or memory. Instead, they have the audacity to claim they're already teaching kids to "think" for themselves!

Thus, learning hard to learn and use complicated things like the alphabet, reading and spelling, multiplication tables, rules of grammar, history and civics, the sciences, are outdated. All such things are now subjective to what each kid wants them to be! So, where to pee or if 2 + 2 = 3 or 4 or 5 (or even 22) becomes fine learning according to many lazy and very overpaid "public" (government stooges actually) school teachers.

Lazy kids usually get awarded the same grades as good students but not for what they've learned, they all get "A" because it's easy and our lazy modern teachers say they don't want to hurt the dumm kid's tender feelings and teachers just know each of the little beggers "tried really hard". (And, considering how little of anything many modern teachers know, the mind-numbed kids may be right!)

The learning our kids MUST be able to regurgitate, verbertiam, are the brainwashing social engineering programs "liberal" teachers demand they follow.

So, does all that make sense? Well, yea ... to brain dead, cocaine fried liberal educators who don't quite know what sex they will be tomorrow!

[Soundguy]

You are obviously not in the education system my wife's been a teacher for over 30 years and the stuff that they are forced to teach is just atrocious they don't even get to teach their class material but a little bit most of the stuff their teaching is pushed by the state so make sure you think about that whenever you're blaming teachers at least at the elementary in high school level once you make it to College then yeah you got a lot of liberal bias from the instructors there the primary schools are stuck with whatever the state makes them do

[bedbugbilly]

farmbif - I think you hit the nail right on the head - today's educational system teaches kids HAT to think . . . not HOW to think . . . . and most of the teachers are now young enough to have been a product of the same system.

[country gent]

what is really odd is these same people do the same job everyday and dont learn it thru the repetitions even. Most older tradesman have the decimil equivelents in memory just from using them. I had them to the 64 ths in a few years.
It appears not only didnt they learn but they dont want to learn

[Battis]

Our educational system is like our court system - it has faults but it's still the best in the world. I read what some have said about the younger generation and then I see what my son and daughter have accomplished. My daughter went to a super liberal school in RI, then got her masters degree in an ultra liberal Vermont school, and she's a staunch conservative who has done very well. She was not, and could not, be brainwashed. Same with her husband - super liberal family and education, but, again, a staunch conservative who has done well. My son, raised and educated in MA, went to college in ME, and just got out of the Air Force after 8 years (captain). His wife got her masters degree in England, and is doing very well. All of my kid's friends have also worked hard and have done, and are doing, very well.
What's the common denominator in all of their lives? Attentive parents, not great schools. And it has nothing to do with wealth, or lack of it. Blame the schools? No. Blame the parents. And on the flip side, congratulate the parents of successful kids.
Don't paint and condemn the millennials with a wide brush. There's lots of hard working, smart, considerate "youngsters" out there.

[1hole]

... my wife's been a teacher for over 30 years and the stuff that they are forced to teach is just atrocious they don't even get to teach their class material but a little bit most of the stuff their teaching is pushed by the state so make sure ....

Your wife has been in the "education" grinder for 30 years? Then she isn't in the generation of teachers I've grown to detest! In fact, I'd say she is/has long been a victim of the brainless, green haired, nose ringed loser's victims.

[
...you think about that whenever you're blaming teachers at least at the elementary in high school level once you make it to College then yeah you got a lot of liberal bias from the instructors there the primary schools are stuck with whatever the state makes them do

And you make my point of where our education troubles lie. But, in my mind, the older, more intelligent teachers - like your wife - were too quite for much too long. They allowed the present loser generation to gain a deadly lock on teacher union political power so now they are too small a portion of the unions to be able to make any real difference.

[am44mag]

Our educational system is like our court system - it has faults but it's still the best in the world.

It's not even close to being the best in the world. Not by a long shot. It might have been at one time, but that was long ago. (Talking about the education system, not our justice system. That is still the best in the world)

[Battis]

OK, what's better? I'm not talking math scores, I'm talking about an overall, well rounded education. Sure, Indian and Chinese kids might score better on math tests, but where do they want to live? Here. In the U.S. Screw the math scores.

[am44mag]

OK, what's better? I'm not talking math scores, I'm talking about an overall, well rounded education. Sure, Indian and Chinese kids might score better on math tests, but where do they want to live? Here. In the U.S. Screw the math scores.

You are confusing people's desire to live in a place with that place's ability to educate them. They are not dependent on each other. The US is a very prosperous nation with a strong sense of justice and freedom. That is what drives those people to come here. There are far more opportunities to succeed here than in most of the world, and people have the freedom to do so.

What about our education system makes you think it's the best, or even well rounded? It's rare for schools to even teach basic things like how to budget, or how to do your taxes. They certainly have no problem pounding things like how the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell into your head year after year though.

[Battis]

I'm still waiting to hear what country has a better educational system. Why do I think that our school system is the best? Because of the results. When people are dying to enter our country at all costs, we must be doing something right. I doubt that China or India has the same kind of border problems that we do. Millions of people don't sneak into those countries illegally, despite the great math scores.
Some kid can't make change at a store and suddenly the entire generation is painted as uneducated dopes, and the blame rests totally with the schools and the teachers.
Gun owners should know how wrong it is to disparage an entire group of people based on the actions of a few.

[sundog]

Not too long I was at the grocery store buying Friday donuts for the team and when asked by the cashier how many and I said four dozen. She had a confused look on her face so I told her again… She started using her fingers to try to count them before I finally realized she didn’t understand how to multiply, 4×12, or didn’t understand how many is in a dozen. I finally told her 48 after several tries as I could not comprehend someone not understanding that 4 dozen is 48.

Bless her little heart…

If it had been an old time bakery years ago, it you would have gotten 52. I guess few know what a 'bakers dozen' is any more.

[john.k]

People do sneak into China ,illegally.....from North Korea.....they are returned to torture and death,when found.

[AlexanderNickel]

I prepaid for some gas awhile back with a fifty , could only fit something like thirty five in the tank .
Went back in for my change and the dufas at the counter gave me back thirty five dollars .
I spent a good three or four minutes trying to explain that he gave me back to much money and only owed me fifteen .
He didn't want to hear it , I was wrong , he was right and that's all there was to it .
I went back in the store a few days later and the manager was working the register so I asked her what happened to the dimwit

Oh we fired him for stealing from the register . His drawer was short a few hundred bucks two or three days in a row .
a story similar to the book dispossessed I read about on a resource https://freebooksummary.com/category/the-dispossessed with free sample summaries for students
Then I explained what happened with me , He wasn't stealing just couldn't add and subtract

It's funny, I had a similar situation, only then the seller paid from his own pocket. I think he really wanted to stay in his job.

[1hole]

... Sure, Indian and Chinese kids might score better on math tests, but where do they want to live? Here. In the U.S. Screw the math scores.

I'm not sure what you mean, "Screw the math scores" but don't confuse foreign kids wanting to live where there are few restraints on youthful life as prima facie proof for any residual value to our present government-union controlled "education" system.

Fewer and fewer schools (and current text books) do traditional educating today and they're getting worse! K through university, American "public" schools are under increasing Democrat/progressive government sanctioned mind control and they are rapidly transitioning into socialist/Critical Race Theory indoctrination centers for limp minds, now!

Our new education system is indeed "Screwing the math system." The teaching powers that be say requiring accuracy in math is a devious tactic contrived by inferior whites to hold down superior blacks; the professionals claim to be "woke" now and they don't like it! (That's real guys, not pretend, and it's NOT the only stupid thing American educators are teaching our kids today!)

[Battis]

Show me a better overall system.

[Rapier]

Daughter is an assistant principal, said 72% of the students will not be passed, they will repeat, school board said, three weeks later they, the school board, decided to retest, after two weeks….why two weeks I ask….oh, to let them study, study what….ah, the test. The Pass Through Culture…..they can not read, write, do math or think……..But they can vote…..Scary Ain’t it.

[Handloader109]

If house price inflation really takes off over the next 10 or so years,then the house will be near enough free.Not for any house trailers it won't. They depreciate

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Battis]

I have ZERO use for most school boards and less than ZERO for teacher's unions. 90% of teachers are good but, as noted, school boards, usually made up of amateurs, are counterproductive. As I said, the remedy is attentive parents. Be involved, watch what's happening, make yourself and your views known. There's a large pushback going on against CRT, and that's good.

[ulav8r]

Maybe people want to come to the US because their superior math and economics education give them a greater advantage over the Public educated residents here.

[Handloader109]

As far as ranking, usnews reported us still the best when the respondents were asked where they wanted to attend, sure, free education.....
When a world organization ranked the countries, US isn't in the top 10 which is
Countries with the Best Educational Systems - 2020 Global Citizens for Human Rights

Denmark

Finland

Japan

Canada

Sweden

Germany

Israel

Netherlands

Singapore

South Korea

And we rank 38th in math and 24th in science. Yes, we have a good SYSTEM, one of the best, but the results put our students in a very poor position. Not nearly first.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[Battis]

Wow, imagine a "world organization" ranking the USA lower in anything?
What "greater advantage over the Public educated residents here" are we talking about? Any examples?
Hey, if someone wants to take their kids to any of the above listed countries for an "education," go for it.

[Multra]

The US has some of the best universities in the world, but our public education is a retard factory.

[Battis]

Back that statement up, or at least explain it.

[john.k]

Parents are voters....you fail little Jimmy,I vote for the other side.........so pass little Jimmy,no worry of mine if he cant do the 3 Rs................if your business needs Jimmy to add up correctly,then you teach him!

[john.k]

AS I said before ,we used to employ young men in a well paid industry (refinery workers rates),and very few could do all3 Rs .....many couldnt tell the time ,or translate a clock to a timesheet......and unfortunately the ones who could were often university dropouts,who seem to be bitter and twisted ,and very prone to causing unrest in the workforce.

[Battis]

our public education is a retard factory.

By posting that ignorant statement, you just insulted everyone on this forum that did not go to a private school. And their kids, grandkids, family members, not to mention every special needs child and their families. Was it worth it? Am I the only one that will call this out?

[john.k]

Local high school is state run/public education,and I notice they have quietly introduced a high achievers stream for high IQ ,self disciplined kids completely isolated from the rest of the education stream thats near enough to "Blackboard Jungle"......These kids start 1/2 hr earlier than normal school hours,finish 1/2 hr later ,so the dont come into contact with the normal school population......This system allows schools to achieve lots of top mark /annual prize winners.

[dverna]

Battis, I am a dual citizen. Canadian schools used to turn out more highly educated people than what I saw in the US. Not sure about today. In my twenties, I knew more about world history and even US history than Americans. I thought many Americans were dumb, but I realized most had not been educated very well.

Anyone who thinks math scores do not matter is grasping at straws to justify a failed educational system. A country advances on science and engineering....not literature, art, or music.

[Multra]

American schools don't teach people to think, just memorize the bare minimum so they can push kids through to be someone else's problem. Schools are generally graded on % of students graduating, not how well they actually do so there is pressure on teachers to just hand out a courtesy C- and move them along; never mind that the kid reads at a 4th grade level or can't do basic math without a calculator as a senior in high school. The US is rapidly falling behind the curve on primary and secondary education, you can ignore facts all you like, but it won't change them. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cnu.pdf
The one advantage the US has is wages, we pay way more than our peers for good STEM workers, we are able to brain drain other countries and keep our scientific advantage that way.

[Land Owner]

By posting that ignorant statement, you just insulted everyone on this forum that did not go to a private school. And their kids, grandkids, family members, not to mention every special needs child and their families. Was it worth it? Am I the only one that will call this out?

Nope. I went another way, ignored it, and did not get triggered by the broad-brush opinion-based comment.

Consider the benefit of a household with both parents, one or both work, and both care about the future health and happiness of their children. Compare that household to the single Mom with little to no income in a culture against a man's presence in the household, which would diminish the government's handout. How intelligent are we? Compassionate maybe. Remarkably, some individuals from the latter family STILL succeed while some of from the former don't.

Student loan debt is a pretty good indicator of "intelligence". Take out a Loan. Pay it back. Go in debt beyond your wildest imagination for a career that leads nowhere, no lottery winner there.

[1hole]

By posting that ignorant statement, you just insulted everyone on this forum that did not go to a private school. And their kids, grandkids, family members, not to mention every special needs child and their families.

No, no kid or family was insulted by anyone here, today's kids are as bright as any but the educational system fails to treat them as capabil students. So, our kid's knowledge levels continue to decline because their public schools are busy insulting the functional intelligence of every poor kid under their thumb. Meaning today's public schools are NOT the schools of many people here and it's NOT the kid's fault - nor is it your's or mine. "Liberal" education experts have driven stakes through the heart of what America's public schools used to be.

Many "modern" kids graduate from high school knowing how to apply condoms to cucumbers but can't read and understand a serious book; they know Tommy has two mommies but can't do basic math; they know all white people are, ipso facto, oppressors and all non-whites are helpless victims who should have a larger share of the earnings of the whites who actually get up and go to work everyday; they know WW2 started when the U.S. atomic bombed Japan but they don't know when the war of 1812 was fought; they know - for sure - global warming is going to fry the world by 2010 but they're unsure if they should stand or sit to pee. I don't blame our kids OR their parents for that level of ignorance, it's their schools that have let them down!

[farmbif]

there is so much here so many issues that are very important
dont get me started on the court systems, so many times law enforcement go by the laws and bring arrest criminals and the courts fail to provide punishment befitting the crime.
as far as education.
I think our military training and education system is the best in the world, maybe I'm bias as I have a close relative spent his adult life teaching at Annapolis
but the public education system leaves a lot to be desired.

[Jaaymar]

My brother and his wife raised a large family. Around 1980 they decided to Home School after seeing the decline of ethics and morals in the education system. All their children have prospered and have retained the values they learned as kids. My wife was concerned about home schooling not providing social interaction. That turned out to be a non-issue. If I was starting a family now I couldn’t live with sending my kids to a state funded school.

Well said, I just need to find a spouse who agrees.

[reddog81]

I was at the store over lunch and picked up a loaf of bread and milk. The total was $7.48. I handed the cashier a $20. The register was out of 10s so giving change was an issue. Eventually she realized 2 $5 was the same as a $10. figuring out how to refund the the change took a couple tries of picking up various coins and counting.

Lady looked like she was in her 50's or early 60's...

[1hole]

Red, no one ever claimed that all ol' folk are automatically well educated! :) (But, unlike many of today's kids, they usually had a decent chance!)

[reddog81]

Red, no one ever claimed that all ol' folk are automatically well educated! :) (But, unlike many of today's kids, they usually had a decent chance!)

There's a lot of really special people out there of all ages. It's not just millennials!

[Land Owner]

I think our military training and education system is the best in the world...
The selective service aptitude tests I was given were written for a third-grade level of comprehension, were administered by "used car salesmen" with quotas to fill - they were ready to help the applicant "pass". The USCG Service Schools I attended were interesting and "adequate" for military service.

Very little military training (to which I was subject) is usable in the Private or Public sectors, except the favorable five (+5) points granted post-service when applying for jobs, over other similarly qualified applicants without service. Military training is about breaking down civilian habits (Boot Camp), rebooting personnel through exhaustive repetition, discipline, and strict adherence to orders (Esprit de Corps), and instilling the hierarchy of "Do what I tell you to do", even though an order should NOT be followed by a rational thinking person. BS flows downhill.

The Deck Crew got SCREWED for the third time in one day UNDOING and doing right, what should not have been done wrong by the Lt. in the first place, which was RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED by the Deck Crew from the get-go, then pointedly, to the Lt., TOLD OF THE ERROR by the Deck Crew before the effort started, then ordered by the Lt. to do it wrong anyway, then b****ed OUT LOUD by the Deck Crew about HOW WRONG it was during the entire four-hour effort, only to be ordered to UNDO IT and REDO IT RIGHT into the late night by the Old Man, who, in a time of War, had the authority to HANG us from the Yard Arm for non-compliance with direct orders. Try THAT in Civilian or Private sector work.

[1hole]

....only to be ordered to UNDO IT and REDO IT RIGHT into the late night by the Old Man, who, in a time of War, had the authority to HANG us from the Yard Arm for non-compliance with direct orders. Try THAT in Civilian or Private sector work.

Land, you would cry at the tenderness of today's military training.

My 30 year old grandson served as a medic for A.F. Forward Controller Teams in the sandbox. He often saw the elephant, shot back several times and patched up a lot of wounded.

He got out after 6 and soon married a medical doctor. But he missed the sense of mission so he joined the Army Reserve for similar work a few months back. He was out 5, long enough to have to go through most of Army basic training. He told his mother if we have to go to war with the snowflakes coming in now we're screwed.

The Army has been ordered to accommodate both women and queers as equals. To make that possible, the whole of today's emotional, physical and mental military training has been watered down and tenderized enough to let loser recruits think of themselves being as ruff, tuff and smart as real men!

T.I.s are now forbidden to speak loudly or profanely or even appear to be disrespectful to what would otherwise be sobbing recruits wanting to call their mommys!

Please God, save us from the deadly social effects of American liberalism!

And, "Let's go Branden!"

[ulav8r]

My daughter was put in a class for better students, though my memory doesn't tell me what it was called at the time. After two years, that program was discontinued, and they started putting students into groups of 6-7 to work together on projects, where everyone got the same grades even if only 1or 2 completed all the work. That was nearly thirty years ago.

[Land Owner]

Please God, save us from the deadly social effects of American liberalism!

Perhaps, one can ponder in this Age of Internet, America is not the only cringe-worthy country grappling with nihilism, communism, socialism, and liberalism, but that our lick-spittle Media salivates to air our dirty laundry in public. If rumored reports can be believed, many of the Russian "troops" were not warriors, were "surprised" even to be advancing into the Ukraine, their "mission" unclear, their communications intermittent, ordered to fire at other human beings for unclear or unknown reasons, who didn't appreciate being fired upon and were fighting back - with conviction! The Russian losses, not yet tallied, are hinted to be in the tens of thousands. THAT, if true, is a Tale of the Tape about ALL of today's youth.

[dverna]

Land Owner, fighting on a cell phone is a wee bit different than real life.....and death.

[Land Owner]

Did I miss that? Are not youth everywhere similarly addicted?