07-10-2012, 11:20 AM
You make the call
Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets.
I asked for a half dozen nuggets.
'We don't have half dozen nuggets,' said the teenager at the counter.
'You don't?' I replied.
'We only have six, nine, or twelve,' was the reply.
'So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?'
'That's right.'
So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets
Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets.
I asked for a half dozen nuggets.
'We don't have half dozen nuggets,' said the teenager at the counter.
'You don't?' I replied.
'We only have six, nine, or twelve,' was the reply.
'So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?'
'That's right.'
So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets
07-10-2012, 12:06 PM
It is not funny, it is scary. Most of those kids/young folks are either going to high school or have a high school degree. Heck, I know college students that would say the same thing. And lord help you if the cash register is broke and they actually have to count change out.
Sad, sad, sad.
Sad, sad, sad.
07-10-2012, 12:59 PM
(07-10-2012, 12:53 PM)freddy Wrote: And for heaven's sake, if your bill comes out to 92¢ don't even entertain the idea of giving the cashier $1.02 instead of $1.00 so as not to get back too much loose change.
The registers are all computerized so if you give a cashier 1.02 they look at the screen to see how much change to give back. Actually most if not all stores want their cashiers to depend on the screen as not too make mistakes.
Freddy the old days of thinking are over.
07-10-2012, 01:02 PM
(07-10-2012, 12:59 PM)slantman Wrote:(07-10-2012, 12:53 PM)freddy Wrote: And for heaven's sake, if your bill comes out to 92¢ don't even entertain the idea of giving the cashier $1.02 instead of $1.00 so as not to get back too much loose change.
The registers are all computerized so if you give a cashier 1.02 they look at the screen to see how much change to give back. Actually most if not all stores want their cashiers to depend on the screen as not too make mistakes.
Freddy the old days of thinking are over.
The only thing we still do the old way is wet shave.
07-10-2012, 01:39 PM
(07-10-2012, 01:02 PM)Johnny Wrote:(07-10-2012, 12:59 PM)slantman Wrote:(07-10-2012, 12:53 PM)freddy Wrote: And for heaven's sake, if your bill comes out to 92¢ don't even entertain the idea of giving the cashier $1.02 instead of $1.00 so as not to get back too much loose change.
The registers are all computerized so if you give a cashier 1.02 they look at the screen to see how much change to give back. Actually most if not all stores want their cashiers to depend on the screen as not too make mistakes.
Freddy the old days of thinking are over.
The only thing we still do the old way is wet shave.
We are the last of the Mohicans.
07-10-2012, 02:48 PM
We truely have become Dinosaurs!
I am convinced that a minimum of 75% of todays population do not think for themselves, but would rather let the various medias we encounter on a daily basis do their thinking for them. What I don't know is if they have forgotten how to think or are just to damn lazy! I'm being kind when I say 75%. It's probably closer to 90%.
So rather than percieve all this as a problem, I like to think of it as an opportunity. I view todays world as a sea of meat puppets just waiting to be manipulated, and manipulate I do! Just think about the possibilities.
Although I must say it's nice to hang out here with the rest of the dinosaurs from time to time even if only for a little while. A little sanity goes a long way.
I am convinced that a minimum of 75% of todays population do not think for themselves, but would rather let the various medias we encounter on a daily basis do their thinking for them. What I don't know is if they have forgotten how to think or are just to damn lazy! I'm being kind when I say 75%. It's probably closer to 90%.
So rather than percieve all this as a problem, I like to think of it as an opportunity. I view todays world as a sea of meat puppets just waiting to be manipulated, and manipulate I do! Just think about the possibilities.
Although I must say it's nice to hang out here with the rest of the dinosaurs from time to time even if only for a little while. A little sanity goes a long way.
07-10-2012, 06:10 PM
(07-10-2012, 12:06 PM)Johnny Wrote: It is not funny, it is scary. Most of those kids/young folks are either going to high school or have a high school degree. Heck, I know college students that would say the same thing. And lord help you if the cash register is broke and they actually have to count change out.
Sad, sad, sad.
I agree with Johnny 100 percent. It's very sad, and VERY COMMON!
07-10-2012, 08:54 PM
I'm reminded of a passage in the Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman book "Good Omens" (which by the way is a fun read) - it basically states that literacy and the ability to think is not a requirement for working in a burger joint; the ability to smile and match with the décor is...
07-11-2012, 03:18 AM

We can't really blame them though; their education must have something to do with it. And this has been a long time coming.
For example: I was a assisting my Professor teaching biophysics practicals to second-year undergraduates over 15 years ago, and even then we had a large number of science students studying for their degree who had no idea about logarithms. We ended up doing remedial maths in the coffee room rather than the practical. It is very sad, but school courses are now so dumbed down that we get the school-leavers we deserve.
I think that one problem is that no-one in authority wants children to fail at exams because they think that that reflects poorly on them and their administration. So, every child passes the exams, but none of them really gain any understanding or knowledge. It seems as if the pass-rate (in the United Kingdom) increases every single year. If you think about it, there are only two possibilities to explain this (assuming that the human race is not becoming increasingly intelligent at a measurable rate): the first is that teachers are improving their teaching methods, and are better able to prepare students to pass exams OR the exams are getting easier. The evidence is held in this generation of school-leavers, who, on the whole, do not have the education and life skills that we had at their age.
It is very, very sad, both for them and for us. Think of all the things that they will miss out on because things are inaccessible to them, due to their lack of education. Looking to the future, we will miss out too as these children are going to be the ones responsible for us and for the world.
We were lucky: we had a decent education.
07-11-2012, 11:50 AM
(07-10-2012, 12:06 PM)Johnny Wrote: It is not funny, it is scary. Most of those kids/young folks are either going to high school or have a high school degree. Heck, I know college students that would say the same thing. And lord help you if the cash register is broke and they actually have to count change out.
Sad, sad, sad.
Many cashiers at fast food joints speak pidgin English, and might not know what "half dozen" means. They often understand only what is explicitly stated on the menu. Heaven forbid your payment includes $1 or 50 cent coins. They go completely into the Twilight Zone when that happens.
Some may think it scary or funny, but I find it extremely annoying.
07-11-2012, 12:36 PM
Let me tell ya, it's not only math. Proofreading some of my peers essays is horribly depressing. I'm in a major where we are writing scientific papers and it's sad to see how poor many students english is and how disconnected they are from understanding the differences between a scientific paper and a book report like they did in grade school...
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