perspectives of our young working class
 

Hey Folks,
I was wondering if anyone here would care to share their thoughts on the "quality and condition" of our young working class folks. Lets say pre 24 years of age.
I have lots of complaints like anyone else, but I am going to try and offer some objective perspectives.

In the last month I have had to glaring failures. First, I clerk at sears could not calculate 10% of $60 for his life. He had to be early 20's. Last night at a Kroger super market(king Soopers here in Colorado) I had a clerk help me. I REFUSE to use the self checkout lanes. I consider them to be reduction of workforce labor in favor of corporate profits machines. My own personal beef I know.

The clerk told me I needed to use the self-destruct checkout lanes. I refused and told him these lanes cut jobs. His response, oh they do not. They make jobs. A person has to install these and maintain them. I was dumbstruck. I asked if it was any different to install or maintain than the regular checkout. Of course not he said. So the obvious, these lanes remove the need for a checker clerk. His response "Whatever"

I have lots of nieces and nephews. Most of them have not gone to college, or if they did, they waited until their late 20's. I do have a nephew in a small motor mechanic trade school and another attending the School of Mines in Golden studying ME and pyrotechnics.

I think back to when I graduate high school. I wanted to go to college, but I had to find a way to do it on my own. I did. It took me a lot of years to do. I also know those first several years I did nothing but struggle and work menial jobs. However, I was generally regarded as intelligent and ambitious.
The question, are the young workers of today really any different than those form decades past? Or am I just getting old and grouchy?

mark

Kids these days. Welcome to curmudgeonhood Mark. Old fartdom is next. :D

I hear what you are saying JC..... But, I gotta admit, I can't calculate 10% of anything without a calculator, pencil, paper, and all of my fingers. 😕

Nothing wrong with being curmudgeonly. BTW, he spells his name with a K.

I think the school system has focused too much on deviation from the 3R's. Kids have it a bit easier these days, which really doesn't help them much.

reading, riting and rithmatec, I gotsa agree wich u.:D

why was it ever call the three R's??

Mentally divide by 10 simply by moving the whole number decimal point left one place.

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I will admit that I do simple addition and subtraction in my head by counting, in some cases. I mean, I figure 29-5 by going '28, 27, 26, 25, 24.' It's stupid, but I never learned how not to do it. That is, I know some addition and subtraction instances instantly, but others I count. Needed more flash-card work at the right moment in second grade or something....

But I know many mental shortcuts, too. Subtracting nine from something, for example, is simple: 1 less than subtracting 10 from it.

10% is easy-peazy, as Pio was saying. Move decimal point. So 10% of 99 is 9.9. Even 10-percent increments then are easy to, just mulitply the 10% amount by whatever. 30% of 99 is 3 x 9.9. So how much is that? Shortcut: 3 X 10, -.3 = 29.7.

Like to tip 15%? Figure 10%. Then take half of the 10% amount, and add it in. Don't fuss with decimals, round up as you go. Precision not necessary here.

Need exactly 37% of 99? OK, lets get 7%. Start by getting 1%: that's done by moving the decimal point TWO places, giving .99. Multiply that by 7. As above, 7 X 1, -.07 = 6.3. Add 6.3 70 29.7 (that's 30%, figured above) = 36.

There may be better ways, I'm just sharing mine.... :)

I am amazed that the clerk was so stupid as to tell you to go to self-checkout. He or she was both too lazy for words, and lacked the slightest trace of any inkling of the meaning of 'customer service,' let alone any realization that such was what he/she was paid to do. Lacking all that insight, he had no prayer of understanding he was emptying a gun into his own foot....

Kids are born knowing nothing, and must learn. 'Twas ever thus. But they do seem to miss a lot of basic stuff these days....

That was kind of my take to.
He was ignorant, he was lazy, he knew he was ignorant and lazy, and he didn't care that he was such. Pathetic to say the least.

No difference. I believe the spread of attitudes is the same.