Random Thought Thread

toker said:
What language is that? Who's bright idea was it to stop teaching cursive?

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Oh shit that's right

It blows my mind that people can't read cursive. To someone my age it reads exactly the same as block text and it doesn't even cross my mind that it would read differently to someone else.

There are people who can't read that

There are people who can't read my signature on my knives and more than one person has said they thought it said Cabela's

Dang
 
Sharp & Fiery said:
The other issue is that applicants lie and say they can do basic mathematics. It’s not the company’s responsibility to train people basic education skills.

I regularly ask “can you read a tap measure?” during interviewing. Answer is always “yes.” Sometimes it’s also “yup, my last job was in construction.”

“Oh?”

“Do you read SAE, metric, Imperial or a combination?”

“Huh?”

“Inches or millimetres?”

“I just read the tickies.”

Good job educational system.
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My nephew has lots of trouble finding and hiring people who can do the things we always took for granted. This summer he hired two young guys that were hard workers and showed up on time which seems to be next to impoosible for far too many these days.

Then one day he sent them to the lumber yard to pick up some materials so he could stay on site so they could get a job finished on Friday before the weekend.

Well he got a call from them when they got to the lumber yard two hours away ... and they just then realized the list his wife wrote out while he was telling her what he needed was in cursive and neither one of them could read it ... :rolleyes:.

Since I was way closer to the lumber yard than he was, he called and asked if I could go meet them and make sure he got what he needed.

So I drove and met them and I thought this won't take too long with three of us ... only to find out neither of them could back a trailer or be trusted to count anything.

Long story short after I got everything needed I followed them back to the job site and after my nephew "let them go" for lying to him, I stayed and helped my nephew's short handed crew finish up that job.

I don't want it to sound like I'm bashing all young people, because I know some that are impressive, but it really is unbelievable how poorly prepared for life many young people are when they walk into adulthood. This coodling kids (that seems to be becoming WAY to prevalent ... especially schools) is doing them no favors. Life can be hard, prepare them.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Oh shit that's right

It blows my mind that people can't read cursive. To someone my age it reads exactly the same as block text and it doesn't even cross my mind that it would read differently to someone else.

There are people who can't read that

There are people who can't read my signature on my knives and more than one person has said they thought it said Cabela's

Dang
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I think the issue is less about cursive being a foreign language and more about the quality of cursive when handwritten by certain people. I can read cursive well enough, but I can only decipher about 50% of what my boss writes because his cursive is just not easy to read. In contrast, my father's cursive is exemplary.

As for learning to write cursive: I think my teachers quit trying around 3rd grade when they realized my script was awful and not improving, therefore my cursive was unlikely to improve either. It was hard enough for me to stay focused in school for important topics and, apparently, chronically bad handwriting is a symptom of how my brain works (or doesn't, as the case may be).

On one hand, I think I would be displeased if cursive completely disappeared from our culture. On the other hand, I do not think it is a good use of time or resources to force kids to learn how to write two completely separate writing systems when there are more important, practical topics to study. If anything, I think cursive should continue to be introduced but taught as an art; the kids who take a shine to it can pursue it if they wish while the rest of the kids can focus on something else that suits them better.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
People my age will typically start writing out something in block and then transition into cursive as their pace picks up without even thinking about it.


I guess, honestly, that's kind of a useless skill huh?
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I recall some time back reading a study that found that there are cognitive benefits to writing regularly in cursive. I don't recall the validity or whether it was peer reviewed or not but it makes some sense.

When I write in a hurry, it is often a mix of block and cursive. Cursive flows better, can be faster, and it certainly looks nicer when one's penmanship is half decent.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
............it really is unbelievable how poorly prepared for life many young people are when they walk into adulthood. This coodling kids (that seems to be becoming WAY to prevalent ... especially schools) is doing them no favors. Life can be hard, prepare them.
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This is the fault of lazy parents. They expect someone else to teach their kids life skills and can't be bothered to be involved/present enough (in the right ways) to ensure their kids are gaining knowledge they need to function and be successful in society.

It isn't the state's/government's responsibility to teach our kids. It's a parental duty.

"Yeah, but I pay taxes so....blah blah blah" - pay attention, get involved, vote, run for local office, etc. if you want taxes to be used differently, schools to function differently, and federal $$$ to stop dictating curriculums.

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. This country is full of lazy ass, entitled hogs and it's not just young people. There are plenty of "boomers", "insert generational name here", etc. who got their piece of the pie and say to hell with everyone else.
 
Jsega51 said:
My handwriting looks like ass for this exact reason, I mix print and cursive letters in my words.
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Yep, me too. So I took Typing in High School, (Jr year) and mastered it too, (all non electric, just manual).

We got an extra credit grade (Catholic HS) for each typed paper we turned in, made life more simple for me the last 2 years in school.
 
carnifex knifeworks said:
This is the fault of lazy parents. They expect someone else to teach their kids life skills and can't be bothered to be involved/present enough (in the right ways) to ensure their kids are gaining knowledge they need to function and be successful in society.

It isn't the state's/government's responsibility to teach our kids. It's a parental duty.

"Yeah, but I pay taxes so....blah blah blah" - pay attention, get involved, vote, run for local office, etc. if you want taxes to be used differently, schools to function differently, and federal $$$ to stop dictating curriculums.

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. This country is full of lazy ass, entitled hogs and it's not just young people. There are plenty of "boomers", "insert generational name here", etc. who got their piece of the pie and say to hell with everyone else.
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I agree that the parents failed them also, but the schools are not absolved of their share of responsibility in the whole mess. And I say "prepare them" meaning parents shouldn't take it for granted their children are getting taught just because the attend school.
 
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jmgruber said:
Convince me on the reasons to get a 10” Light Chopper? Can it chop pennies if I get the wrong change?
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It's light and thin. The previous version of it once won a cutting competition at one of the Fisk shows, irritating the ABS guys there. It's the only chopper capable of effectively cutting through grass and bramble, yet also processing camp firewood and other woods tasks. Brilliantly balanced and a very effective cutter that hits well above its weight.

It's the least powerful and also at least durable chopper we produce. You shouldn't get one, you'll hate it.
 
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