DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... stOOpid!

Not as bad as others but I went to KFC last night for dinner. I order the 2pc dinner that comes with 2 sides. I get the new boneless #iatethebones chicken and the girl asks for my sides. I say mashed potatoes. She asks for my second side and I say mashed potatoes. She looked at me puzzled. I smile and tell her I want both my sides to be mashed potatoes.

Still looking puzzled I say "I get two sides right?" She says "yes". I say "OK, please give me both Mashed Potatoes." She looks at me still puzzled and says "You just want Mash" I tell her "Yes, Please".

She boxes all my stuff up, I leave and go home and open the box and only had one serving of mashed potatoes and I kicked myself for not looking in the box when she handed me the bag.

j/c

Shouldn't share this, but I will.

Son came home a month or so ago, rode with another friend. On their way back to Columbus, I get a phone call. Dad, the car quit running, what do we do? We discussed it a bit (out of gas? how did it "quit", etc) Can you turn it over (battery, I was thinking alternator...). He held the phone up to the engine as they cranked it. Good, it's not the alternator. Do that again, I said. Dude, whens the last time the oil was checked in the car? It sounds bad. Metal on metal.........."I'll call you back dad, someone is walking towards us (the guy that lived where they were stopped). Wait a bit.

Phone rings. "Dad, the guy checked the dipstick. Said we were out of oil, so he put some in for us."

Oh. Well, how are you gonna get it towed to Columbus? Why? Because you fried the engine.

Sure enough - car needed a new engine.

Or, my wife, about 8 weeks ago. Called me from Toledo. "hey, the hummer died. I was driving, and the lights went out, power steering went out....I pulled off the road. What do I do?"

"Oh, lights dimmed, car died.........can you crank it?"

Well, we could, but it won't now.

Alternator. Call your dad, he has a towing business. Tell him to take it right to the dealership.

Next morning I get a call from the dealership. "Um, alternator is fine, we charged the battery. Only thing we could find was, it was out of gas."

So, I talked with my wife. Simply said "Honey, how low was the gas gauge when you ran out of gas yesterday?" It took her about 15 seconds to figure it out.

My wife has been driving for a little over two years, the same thing happened to her, it took her co-workers, 5 men, two hours to figure out she had ran out of gas. It took her about six months before she told me. She thought I would be mad at her, probably would have just laughed, I make fun of her all the time about it.

It happens I guess. I'm just glad wife's dad towed her (actually, hauled, on a roll-off) for free. My son's friend didn't get off so easy. Had to pay to have it towed to Columbus, AND gets to pay for a new engine.

My Dad, who is a very smart person, tried to clean some sap and bird crap off my sister's car with a brillo pad. I walked outside just as he was finishing, and I said "what are you doing?" He said "cleaning it off." He then looked at it and put his head down and had a few very choice words for himself. Essentially "you are a total moron", but with a lot more cussing.

Simply put, I think you're wrong.

My generation may not know how to use a card catalog reader, but we know how to find out not only how to use it, but the history behind it, and the advances that have come. I think the strength of our generation is our ability to adapt and use technology to do things that some [older] people aren't even aware is possible. Every generation learns "new things" and doesn't bother to learn outdated things. How many people on here know how to cobble a horseshoe?

Just because the "tech" generation embraces different things, doesn't mean the "country is going to hell in a handbasket". Essentially every high paying career today requires some tech knowledge (or is aided by tech knowledge).

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The "TECH" generation is so 'dumbed down' they struggle to communicate properly, perform simple math or understand basic logic

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I also think this is a gross exaggeration and is one made by someone who is looking on the past with rose-colored lenses who has forgotten all the mistakes their generation has made. Sure there's dumb people, but there are in every generation. I think you'd be shocked at what a 13 year old can do with a computer that you probably could never do.

I understand the median age of this board is well above mine, but it is so tiring to hear how our generation is so inept when our generation (let's say those born after 1980) has already made positive impacts that will change the world forever. I really recommend you guys read this article "30 Under 30". In it, there are people working on things like using AI to decipher how diseases are formed and how they can be cured, nanotech particles that can cure disease, turn algae into clean energy, and many other incredible and amazing things. Just because it's a different generation doesn't mean it's worse.


/rant

Directly responding to you, Joker.

Part of my original post:

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For all our so-called modern 'advancements,' (and no doubt, there have been plenty that make life easier/better/faster, etc), we've also abdicated a certain amount of our ability to use common sense and critical judgement in the process. I've been seeing it, little by little over the past 30 years.

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Now, to respond to the message of your post:

It's been my privilege to have uninterrupted contact with the young of our community for almost 30 years. In my role as a private music instructor, I've had weekly contact with some of society's "best and brightest" since I was in my early 20's (dummies don't gravitate to music and The Arts, yo...). There has been no shortage of truly impressive folks who have added tremendously to my life. What's best is that I get them at an age when their cognitive functions are still in development... and l have a chance to aid in that process.

The study of "what we do" involves a rigid adherence to time-honored techniques, conventions and protocols. (They've been in a slow evolution for almost 500 years, but the very basics of good physical interface with the instrument have been codified for almost a century now). At the same time, "the rules" don't always give us the answers we seek, when real-life difficulties fall outside the realm of formulaic solutions.

That's where critical judgement and abstract reasoning kick in... and it's one of my deepest joys in Life to be one of the first adults these kids encounter who can help them to access this part of the Human psyche. Intuition, logic, intellectual improvisation and 'leaps of faith' all collide at the same time... and the student becomes at once: experimenter, test subject, autodidact, and teacher. There is a universe of "gray area" in what we do that requires each of us to take the lessons we have learned, extrapolate potential solutions from a body of insufficient data... and produce positive results that can be clearly and undeniably heard.

It's the 'magic' behind what we do.... and why some become merely technically proficient at a task, while others rise to the level of 'artist.'

____________________________________


My experience as an educator has led me to observe what I call the "85/15 Principle"....

In any group of 100 (or 1,000 or even a million) people dedicated to a particular task or discipline, 15% will initially distinguish themselves above the other 85%.... perhaps because of genetics, intellect, innate physical prowess, etc. Within that group, another 15% will rise to the top. After that, another 15%. And so it goes... until one becomes a Yo-Yo Ma, Jonas Salk, Steven Hawking or Jerry Rice. They arrive there not only through attrition, but also hard work, slavish dedication, and an absolute refusal to accept anything less than "perfection" when others have decided they've done enough. These standard-setters become the ones whose names we remember, in any given discipline.

Now- for the other 85%: Of them, some will inevitably be destined to occupy the very first rank of "the bottom 15%." Others will 'follow more of the rules,' have a little more going for themselves,and be the next 15. We can observe the 85/15 in action, until we arrive at that vast majority of people who live out their lives providing the "control group" upon which these other 'outliers' are compared.

For that broad swath of people who fall in the "middle ground of 85'ers," the skills that Old Codgers like me talk about would be incredibly beneficial.It could actually aid them in their societal ascention by at least a level (or two... or three- if they could only 'unlock a new way of thinking'... it's why Gurus, modern-day 'mystics,' and guys like L. Ron Hubbard and Tony Robbins have/had gigs, you know- )



Something as simple as "counting back change" forces the mind to work backwards from an abstract starting point. Developing the ability to accurately handle that exercise makes them more able to think in a non-linear fashion down the road.... and the ability to solve abstract problems (with a lack of raw data) becomes possible.

It's the old, "Give a man a fish..." adage at work here.

**************************

Right now, I have two students in my studio. Each are examples of opposite 15'ers. "Cellist T" grew up in Bedford Twp- a rural-ish suburb of my town. The other, (let's call him "Captain Concrete") is the son of a doctor and college professor. Suburbs. Gated community... you get the picture, I'm sure.

"CT" helped out his Pops with chores at the family homestead, tagged along beside Dad at the machine shop where the family bread is won, and makes yearly repairs/maintenance on the family summer cottage/dock/outbuilding on a lake in western Michigan. He chops/hauls wood, mows the lawn, tears out brush, and does whatever is required to keep both places functioning. Kid has chores, yo.

"CC" has had the best of everything provided for him... pricy Catholic school, top-grade musical hardware, private lessons since age 8, tutors for subjects that give him difficulties... in short, he has a life that CT would envy... until you factor in these truths:

CT has managed to rise to the top Youth Orchestra in town, parlay his educational experience into a scholarship, and will be studying music performance at his teacher's alma mater next year. "CC" is still struggling to learn that same teacher's elements of "directed practicing"... after almost 3 years of weekly lessons.

(Because our community is so small, these two students actually know each other... and despite all his "societal advantages" of money, class and privilege, CC envies CT's accomplishments. Imagine that- a wealthy Suburban Kid is jealous of a Farm Boy...)

I guess my point is this: CT's life experience of laying roofing tiles, finding new uses for duct tape, and piecing together a repair for a broken piece of machinery from spare parts lying around in their garage workshop has better prepared him for the rigorous, confounding (and sometimes abstract) demands of learning something as complex and challenging as playing the cello to a high degree. CC's experience has been: "if there's a problem, throw money at someone who has the skill to make it go away."

CT is leaving my studio at the top of the local game. CC might not ever even sniff the "Youth Big League" before he graduates in 2 years.

____________________

Archaic as it may sound, I still get paid by written-out cheques for my private services. At the end of the week, I have a small stack of them to deposit at the bank. I still do the math in my head, when I make out the deposit slip. My Wife thinks I'm crazy. "The calculator is right next to you!" she says, at least once per month.

"Yep. I see it."
"Then why don't you USE it?"
"Because MY calculator still works... and when it stops, I know where we keep the calculator."

___________________________________________________________

Joker.... what the "Grumpy Old Men" of this community are objecting to isn't really the passage of time, nor are they discounting the accomplishments of the 'top 15'ers' of subsequent generations. What they (OK, I concede it... we) are objecting to, is the willing abdication of basic modern-day survival skills by vast numbers of everyday "average" citizens, simply because....


...there's now "an app for that."


.02,
Clem

Couldn't have said it any better Clem!

Joker, it's not that I think ALL "Tech Gens" are brain dead... but the majority are lost in simple challenges. I've seen it time and time again. And as for boomers... wouldn't know... I'm Gen X.

Just Clicking JCD

If newer generations develop, invent, create, learn how to use technology, that previous generations don't know, doesn't make them smarter?

So the older generation is saying the new generation is stupid because they cant add 2 +2, but the newer generation thinks they are smarter because they came up with something so they don't have to.

Problem is "They didn't", we did and taught them to use it. Some kids still work on cars, but most don't even know how to change the oil. Guess they invented Jiffy Lube too? lol.

It's really not a pissing match IMO. It's fact. Just read facebook chats or go to sites like last nights text... OMG... I would like to know the true illiteracy rate of today's 18-20 year old population (counting all of them).

And new technology will come along that we will have no idea how to use, and they will pass it down to the next gen.

I would be willing to bet you the literacy rate is higher now than it was 20,30,40,50,100 years ago.

I see it all the time, kids now are learning things now at a younger age, that we has no idea about when we were that age. My son in eighth grade, is learning things we didn't learn till as a Sr, in HS.

Newer generations are just learning different things than we did, based on need to know. Hey, my Dad knew how to use an abacus, and actually used one as a kids. Did I ever learn to use an abacus? No, because it wasn't a necessary skill. I used globes and paper maps, do my kids use maps? For the
part, no. They don't need to.

Cars are a good example, when we were young if you couldn't maintain a car you didn't need to be driving because it was something you had to do. Now, technology has advanced on cars so much, all you mostly have to do is keep the service up on them, and for the most part the car tells you when to do that.

you do realize the average IQ is higher now, than it was 20 years ago, right?

Think hard enough, I am sure you can think of storys of teens in your days doing stupid things. I know I sure can.

Go on a website created by someone from my generation to see why my generation just doesn't get it. Got it.

I think you're missing a very basic concept: All these things have always happened, the internet just makes other people's idiocy more visible to everyone.

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. I would like to know the true illiteracy rate of today's 18-20 year old population (counting all of them).

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I would imagine the literacy rate is at an all-time high and the illiteracy rate is at an all-time low. Just because people shorthand things in texts doesn't mean they can't spell.

People that drop out in the 8th grade to go work on pa's farm are much more betterer spellers.

Clem, you know I enjoy reading what you have to say, especially since we share a birthday - albeit a few years apart.

I definitely agree that some people are spoiled and need to learn what it means to do a hard day's work, but that's not unique to this generation. And I do think that the majority of people can count back change, it's just that the people who work at the Drive Thru probably are bored out of their minds and just fall into a rhythm.

But I think you will be happy to know that my grandpa taught me math by using an abacus in the old country. He was a math professor and I always take pride in my ability to do mental math.

Like I said, I just don't think any of the criticisms the older guys on this board have are exclusive to my generation.

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I would imagine the literacy rate is at an all-time high and the illiteracy rate is at an all-time low.

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IIRC there was a study a few years ago that found that the bottom end was getting better in that more people could pass a functional literacy test but the top end, those very proficient in literacy skills was getting worse... which makes sense since almost our entire educational system is about achieving mediocrity. Spend 90% of our time and resources on getting the percentage at the bottom to pass the test and very little on those with exceptional skills at developing those skills.

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Just because people shorthand things in texts doesn't mean they can't spell.

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It's not just shorthand in texts, it's a reliance on spell check, voice recognition advancements, etc. While they all will help those at the bottom be able to function, it's hard to imagine that those at the top are going to continue to excel the way they used to, because it's just not necessary.

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Like I said, I just don't think any of the criticisms the older guys on this board have are exclusive to my generation.

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Agreed. AND- this type of talk has persisted throughout ALL generations. I think it's just part of the Human condition.

Which reminds me:

j/c

For what it's worth...

I rarely - maybe once a month, eat lunch. I did yesterday. Went to a drive thru. Dairy Queen actually. I ordered a cheeseburger and small fries. Guy on the other end of the microphone said "would you like to make that a value meal? it will save you money."

I said "no. Plus, I don't think it will save me money."

He replied "Yes it will......let me double check for you"

He then replied "I'm sorry sir, it seems you are right. it would cost more to get the value meal." Meaning, it would cost more to get a pop/soda in the "value" meal than it would cost to get the burger and fries separately.

Further more, i didn't want the stupid drink anyway - hey, that's why I didn't order it!!!!.

LMAO!

My pet peeve about st00pidity is this: I've dumbed-down my BK order to the point that Forrest (Freakkin') Gump couldn't possibly jack it up... and yet, about 30% of my orders are filled as I make them.

I went from:

"Number 2 with cheese... no mayo, no tomato. Coke to drink."

to:

"Number 2 with cheese... only catsup and pickle. Coke to drink."

to:

"Number 2 with cheese- PLAIN . Coke to drink."

(Yes... I've received so many "bogus bags-o-crap that I didn't order,"
that I've actually been reduced to dressing my own sandwiches after I get home, to ensure that I can actually "have it my way.")

________________________

Last week, I didn't use the "drive-thru." I actually walked into the store, and stood at the counter, where I could watch the "burger line moron" construct my meal.

The order came up on the screen. BLM glanced at it, saw "#2"... and reflexively reached for the mayo spatula.

"STOP!!!" I shouted, in my best James Earl Jones voice. I dropped a TON of 'basso profondo' into that voice, and projected it like I was trying to fill the Parthenon with one sound. It was like God himself stepped into that BK outlet to rid it of all sinners.

The entire place- both staff and seated customers alike- came to a halt.

I lowered my the volume of my voice, pointed to BLM,... and said: "READ the screen. Really read it. My burger is PLAIN. Don't put ANYTHING on it. Put that mayo down- or deep s#!t is gonna drop on this place-"

Then, I asked to talk with the manager.When she came to the counter, this is what I said:

"Today, I was a walk-in customer because I can no longer trust your "drive thru" service. They *f* my order up more than 70% of the time when I come here, and today, I caught your boy- just before he *f''ed* up a WALK-IN ORDER. How do you *f* up a burger that has nothing on it?!!!" Now, my voice is rising again, because I'm so frustrated with the ineptitude of the service.

"I'm sorry sir- we'll do everything we can to make your visit a pleasurable one-"

"Save it, honey. This spiel sounds as rehearsed as your boy's actions... which tells me that you get a LOT of these complaints- and don't do anything to fix what's really wrong here.... Just gimme my food. I'll take my complaints to someone who signs your paychecks. Enjoy unemployment."

______________________________________


I made a 'Mount Vesuvius out of a molehill' because of this one fact: I actually worked at a fast food joint for THREE YEARS... and we maybe got an order wrong once or twice per week. Orders were taken down on paper tickets, and stuffed onto a spinwheel, for the staff to execute.

No electronics.
No screens.
No fuss, no muss.

Last Summer, I found myself back in my old hometown. My Homeboy and I wanted "The Total Lima Experience," so we went back to the Kewpee hamburger shop that payed me, some 30 years ago. Drive-Thru PLUS Sit-down orders. Busy lunch time-frame. Same spinwheels in action. No electronic screens. No problems with my order- whatsoever.

"Doublecheese... catsup, lettuce, pickle, onion. Fries. Side of chili. ... and throw in a wedge of lemon pie."

Slam. Boom.
No difficulties.

The place ran the same as it did when I worked there- in 1979, yo-

Say what you will about "Grumpy Old Men," and "get off my lawn" jokes....
Back in the day, "Getting it right" actually meant something to the people who collected a paycheck for a week's worth of work.

Today? Not so much.

Just sayin',
Clemdawg.


p.s. I'll reserve my post about how I forced the Maumee,OH cops to be called to their local BK establishment, after I threw a bag of their poorly-assembled 'processed pablum' from the entrance door across their entire "ordering area." for later.... it's a story that deserves either its own thread, or at least, a more appropriate tie-in.

I haven't been to Burger King in a long, long time ..... but they do seem to hire really mentally deficient people.

I went to a Burger King quite a while ago, and wanted a bacon double cheeseburger. However, I didn't want the ketchup and crap they put on it. So, I said I want the bacon double cheeseburger without any ketchup or any other toppings, and I want to add mayo and tomato. They rang my order up correctly.

I was driving down the road when I opened my sandwich, and it was plain all right ..... no cheese ..... no bacon ....... just meat, mayo and tomato.

I stopped and pulled over so that I could call the store. The manager acted indignant, saying that she made my sandwich and I said that I didn't want any toppings on it. I asked her why I would have ordered a bacon double cheeseburger if I didn't want the bacon and cheese.

She still didn't get it. This was a manager. No wonder they are so screwed up.

J/c

I never thought I'd be one of those "back in my day" kind of folks, but here I am. I worked fast food for a number of years, starting in high school. Sure, us kids had fun while working...my friend used to answer the drive thru "welcome to crotch-o smell. Identify your odor please" and not one dang customer said a word about, since the electronics were so bad. We'd do stupid stuff when our friends would come through the drive thru, like if we asked if they wanted any sauce with their tacos and they'd say they wanted lots of hot sauce, we'd fill a bag with hot sauce and five it to them. But rarely did we mess up the orders and if we did, we'd always comp the customer something...a drink, another taco, something. We actually generated loyal customers for the store, to the pint where some people would come in, order the same thing every time and I knew their orders and would have them rung up before they even got to my register. They'd always laugh and think it was set that I knew their order (in fact, it still remember one couples order and I haven't worked there in 20 years - her: 2 tacos and coffee, him: 3 soft tacos, small Pepsi). Service just isn't what it used to be.

A few years ago, we were driving back to Ohio from a trip to Florida. We stopped at a Wendy's. this was probably the worst fast food experience I've ever had. They were busy, it was lunch time. I kid you not, about 95% of the orders were done wrong, so they were having to remake darn near every order. It took forever to get our order because of that and when we did, my burger was wrong. And I ordered a junior bacon cheeseburger, nothing special about it, but somehow, it ended up with mustard on it.

I ate the damn thing with mustard, even though I'm not a big fan of mustard. I just did not want to wait more for them to redo my burger. I wrote a letter to the store to complain about the dreadful service for the day. Never did hear back from them and won't ever go again.

Ten, there was the time we went to Steak and Shake. We walked in, they told us to go ahead and have a seat, someone will be with you shortly to take your order. We sat at our table and waited...and waited, and waited and waited. We waited 20 minutes for someone to take our order. Mind you, there were employees walking by us to deliver food, drinks etc to other tables, just not us. After 20 minutes, we decide to get up and leave. As we walk out, the manager asks us how things were for us. That's when my husband went off on him about their lack of service. The manager was stumbling all over himself to make it right with us, including comping our meal. W still left. We went across the street to McDonald's. You see, all I wanted was some ice cream. So we got our $1 sundaes from McDs instead and haven't been back to Steak n Shake since...been about 7 or 8 years. At least that manager was trying to do right by us, but he is the one who hired the incompetent staff. Plus, like I said, I just wanted some ice cream. It didn't matter where it came from.

Sounds like you should avoid that BK....at the very least they probably spit in your food every time.

JC
Just to take a 180 on the whole customer service thing - I have had to deal with some of the dumbest people imaginable who come into, or call, my place of employment. I work in wholesale electrical supplies, but every day we have to deal with retail customers who apparently think Lowes or Home Depot are beneath them. It is stunning how ignorant they are about things electrical, and yet there they are wanting to "run a 220 line to the garage" thinking its just one wire, or rewire a 15 amp outlet to plug a 50 amp welder into just by changing the outlet, but never considering the existing wire was 14 gauge and needed to be 6 gauge (much larger). These are the people who plug two portable outlet centers in a wall receptacle, use every outlet (12), and then say the circuit breaker is "defective" because it keeps tripping. One guy called and said he needed "house wire" and became very irate when I said there's no such thing. Wire is sized by amperage draw I said - he said just give me whatever's normal. When I refused, he called the owner of the company to complain about me, even though I had not been rude or short in any way with him. At least the boss stuck up for me.

I try to tell do-it-yourselfers (politely) that electrical isn't like plumbing. In plumbing, if you screw up, someone gets wet ... But every day I see people leave our business and wonder if they're not about to burn down their house.