Where they seem to express pride over the fact that they lack rudimentary skills or practical knowledge, because they've attained some social level that is above mundane maintenance or repair.
"I wouldn't know which end of a hammer to hold!"
"I don't even know where the spare tire is!"
"I pay people to do things like that."
I suspect it's rooted in insecurity. The proudly inept, nouveau riche, trying to advertise that they are in a different economic strata.
Self sufficiency is becoming a lost art... was only a generation or 2 ago where it was the standard.
Not so anymore..People taking their chainsaw chains in to be sharpened, calling an expert to fix a leaky faucet, fixing their furnace or appliance.... painting a room, staining a deck.. call the professionals..
It has become difficult for the shade tree mechanic to fix some things on the newer vehicles.. much can still be do it yourself however. It's an opportunity to learn..
Sometimes my wife gives me "that look" when she sees a new tool. I just assure her it will go good at the auction.... ;)
The acceptance of shoddy work is a whole topic in its own. Oil pan drain plugs over tightened...lug nuts needing to be re-torqued properly after buying tires or you'll never get the wheel off when you get a flat..... too many "repairmen" are just parts changers.. keep putting in new parts until it works..
Sounding like a grumpy old man... LOL
People who've never elk hunted can assure us how it's done..people who were never in Vietnam can correct and explain how it really was.. how combat really is...
They've read it... it is so..
Damn .. fun to bitch.. ;)
There are just not enough teachers these days. ;-)
But, thank goodness for youtube "how to" videos. Thanks to folks that put them up. You've saved this old poor boy more than a dozen times. From work to play. :-)
" they can afford the things that make them happy."
Pat leaves me a little nonplussed..... the things in my life that made me the happiest were all free or nearly so..
I see his meaning though, his perspective has some merit. I'm taking a fragment of what he said and judging it by itself..
To Ole Coyote's original post......
I think it's more the innocence and naivety of youth rather than no commonsense.. Experience and wisdom is earned over time.
(then you get old and regress.) ;)
Pat, the problem with your scenario is University study is big business. They don't care if someone blows 250K on a liberal arts/humanity degree. This is where the parent comes into play to offer some sort of direction.
It gets worse, how about committing kids to D1 Schools (sports) when they're 15. Did you know what you wanted to be at 15?
So true and thanks for making me laugh. You are spot on about all of them wanting careers in game development.
I give them the 'saving $25 a week for the rest of their lives'and they will be set. I also tell them that happiness can be bought??
Been teaching community college for 25 years and the kids continue to impress me. Sure they are different, but it is a different world than what we grew up in. They are sharp, and it is a pleasure working with them.
Don't believe everything written on the CF;)
I had a 10 year old kid help me side my garage and knew more about it then I ever knew.
I had an 18 year old install three big sliding garage doors for me, complete with latches. He measured them up, we went to the lumber yard to get what he said we needed and in a half a day we had them installed.
Another 12 year old rebuilt my riding lawnmower and installed a new engine on my rototiller. He also tears down antique tractors, engine and all and helps his dad rebuild them.
I let you guess what kind of people they are.
LOL...Pat, far too many of the college educators have little if any real world experiences and base their reality upon theories. Sometimes I think that a high school grad would do better flipping burgers or working as a stock/sales person for a couple years before entering post high school education.
Dan...with the sub zero temps last week, I could not get the hood of my truck open to even attempt putting a battery charger on it. Thank goodness for YouTube...found a video and a solution.
The same is true for many of the administrators at the Department of Education - at least here in Arkansas. Hence many of the rules that make teaching tough and don't benefit the students.
If I had started teaching when I graduated college, I would have enough years to hang it up this year. And with the paperwork hoops we have to jump through to satisfy the higher ups, I probably wood. On the other hand, having sat out for 15 years (due to circumstances beyond my control), and working in "the real world" has made me a better teacher.
-This piggybacks Jim in Ohio's post.
;-)
A large percentage of students today that enter college take remedial courses in basic English (reading and writing) and math (pre-algebra)before they can even register for a college level course. Further, more and more nonsensical degree programs have been created leading to degrees that lead to nowhere.
The technology and ability to teach is just better. It will be like that for the next generation as well.
Cazador nailed it - these are 18-23 yo. No common sense until they have a wife and kids. Until then, they are just "know-it-alls".
The big difference between this generation and previous generations is they have decided they don't want to waste their life working and have challenged the status-quo.
That's been the biggest challenge because if the entire work force says no - threats are meaningless.
So they are getting what they want. Work/life balance.
Hmmm. Maybe they have more common sense than I thought.
I mostly agree, but it is a different kind of difficult. Remember that 100 years ago, half of all kids were still losing their lives to childhood diseases.
If I am living in a city, make 500k, don't hunt and get my oil changed at the jiffy lube, why would it make 'common sense' to learn those things?
They may look at you and have the same discussion about your lack of common sense for not knowing the light rail schedule or managing a hedge fund or sending a photo on your smart phone.
I suspect there are no older generations in the last 2000 years that didn't have the same lament - and there are many more examples of the same phenomena.
Pat - from your first post I assume that you got a Computer Security - emphasis IT/management degree? No? Something like Computer Science/Business that taught you how to think, rather than teaching you a trade that would be out of date in 3 years? There aren't many jobs out there that you couldn't learn in 6 months of on-the-job-training. Finding out if you have the learning capacity to do that is how an employer looks at a college degree - the more well-rounded the better.
Common sense?
;-)
I did both out of high school (college and flipping burgers). My daughter is taking a 'gap year' as she calls it and is flipping pizza dough. I don't see it as a positive thing, but we each have to find our own path. I will report back in 20 years if she says it was beneficial...
You must have went to a crappy college:)
My first managerial position I did not use my economics undergraduate degree per se, but learning how to organize and balance a challenging schedule amongst competing valuable goals, learning to accept different view points and debate respectfully, learning to think strategically,critically and analytically-these are all skills that are developed not by accident and were very beneficial to me personally in my career development. They would not have happened if I stayed at the factory upon high school graduation. Nothing wrong, understand, with not going to college, just strongly disagree that college develops little that is useful for most people.
Amazes me how we have so many foreign students clamoring to gain access to our "worthless" university system in America. I will be the first to say we need to and must get better by adapting quicker to the changing skills needed by employers, but some skills will always be needed, and colleges still do a pretty good job of it. I have only 3 years left, so I am not inclined to say anything but how I see it.
Instead of the regulars going on a major hunt, maybe just have a major change in tactics-deal with the position taken, don't attack personally. Something else we try and teach:)
My sister really likes art and decided that art education was her "path".....well, she works at a high school teaching several art classes and really likes it, but she makes almost nothing and has lost her job or quit 3 other schools because the first thing that goes is art when budgets get trimmed. She also has a difficult time with some of the leadership as the expect her to structure her class as a "show up and pass" type class.....many cases she has failed slacker students which ended up not graduating....parents and principals weren't happy, but she refuses to pass kids that don't do squat. She also makes them do push-ups for misbehavior and cussing is class.
I chose a technical degree and got my BS and MS in Civil/Structural Engineering....I design bridges, retaining walls, large culverts, pretty much anything that is needed to build a roadway/highway system.....that being said, there is no real money in my position either. The position is underpaid and under-appreciated when compared to my friends (classmates) that chose either chemical or environmental engineering routes.....90% of what they do is fill out reports/log data to report to the federal government for pollution monitoring! They don't do anything technical at all, but the perceived value of not getting fined by the EPA is greater than if bridge collapses during your daily commute (at least that's how it seems). They all make ALOT more than me (and don't get me stated on friends that work for Exxon, BP, Marathon, SHell, etc) and likely will always will!
I just keep hoping the older guys retire and that bridges keep crumbling.....my stock should be going up in future years! Haha!
The idea that someone who works in the financial world produces nothing meaningful for mankind is more corral dust. Helping others make enough money to retire early, or pay for their kid's college, or buy a suitable home, is meaningful work. One more example of him just regurgitating what came from some other imbecile.
So then, HoytVector, how did you become involved in ROTC, as you stated on the stolen valor thread?
ROTC Instructors are either active duty Military, or retired Military that receive a stipend from the College they teach at.
Care to re-register under your real name?
Don't forget he served in the first Gulf War at age 13 or 14....
Between worrying about iridium exposure from my diver's watch and trying to figure out how many grains of salt on the average McD's fry you're not making my top ten "things to worry about" just yet. (If I finalize my count of the number of globules in a snow globe tonight though you'll crack the top ten.....)
Your getting pushed aside by progressives.
Darn it, I thought we'd straigtened this sort of thing out! "Your" denotes possession as in "the ball is yours" while "You're" refers to an action directed towards you (can be a single person or the collective "you") are, as in "You are (You're) the mambo king."
I'll start worrying about progressives when they can "progress" beyond the "See Spot Run" vocabulary and accompanying grammatical proficiency level.
Boehner and McDonnel
I think you meant "McConnell"; perhaps you were typing this brilliant reparte on your iPhone while asking a customer if they wanted anything else with their Happy Meal?
Just when you think he has an intelligent post he shatters his credibility....
