Posted on 04/10/2007 1:03:17 PM PDT by hardworking
This is unashamedly a VANITY post but it is intended to be a SERIOUS one. I have finally reached the point of complete bafflement in wondering what , if anything, is being taught to our young people in school! Here are some of my RECENT experiences as an employer. Am I the only one experiencing this level of idiocy in our country? 1. Two days ago I said the word 'penicillon' in a conversation. A young employee interrupted me and asked, "What is that?" I didnt' know what she was asking until she repeated, "What is that peni...you just said". 2. I recently told an employee that we needed to 'dilute' a substance before using it. They didn't know what 'dilute' meant. 3. I recently said that a substance would go into 'suspension' and the employee looked at me with a blank stare. 4. None of our young staff can calculate a percentage WITH A CALCULATOR, let alone without one!
Can someone please tell me WHAT these kids are doing during the hours they are in school? It appears that they are not learning even the most basic skills.
You get an “A.”
:-)
The rest of the class has to stay after skool...
;-)
I’ll bet you couldn’t resist, either.
Sorry, it was too easy.
There was a McDonalds in a small town near us in Pennsylvania that hired OLD people. It was amazing going into that location - someone was always cleaning the tables and doing a GOOD job of it. That store was cleaner than any I’ve ever been in, and - get this - the cashiers could count back change to you!
Are your employees capable of pronouncing each others’ names? If so, I’ve got one who’s a step beneath. (And the names he can’t pronounce aren’t all that difficult.)
Ping.
No, you're not the only one.
I will never forget what Neil Boortz said several years ago while I was listening to his radio show. He said that the one thing he has learned after being on the radio for 30 years was that the "American People" are DUMB.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CareerManagement/story?id=2582776&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
‘Cover Letters from Hell’ Expose Poor Quality of College Grads
By KATE KLONICK
Oct. 19, 2006 — If recent college graduates apply for a job at Killian Advertising in Chicago, they’d better mind their grammar, spelling and punctuation — not to mention their sentence structure, syntax and diction — lest they end up in the company’s “Cover Letters From Hell” that it posts on its Web site.
Six years ago, Bob Killian, owner and founder of the agency, began posting anonymous excerpts from poorly written cover letters he received from those asking for employment.
The World’s Worst Cover Letters
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2582846
The mistakes ranged from unfortunate omissions (”I am seeking a new position as i have recently been laid” and “I also have a degree English which serves me well in editing text for poor grammer or typos”) to nonsense sentences and topics (”It is through the innovational process, as well as media, that the features of an image can be highlighted and brought to the forefront for the consumer viewing” or “The colors red, blue, and lavender are those that I identify with the most. I feel they accurately describe my personality. I choose red because I turn red when I get embarrassed …”).
Some candidates even try their hand at poetry — one girl rewrote “’T’was the Night Before Christmas,” editing herself and the advertising company into the story and substituting presents for a job.
The goal of putting the letters online, Killian said, is to show job seekers that, “Hello! This is not a recognizable form of communication!”
Ridicule Not the Point
Recently, Killian went through 100 letters that arrived at his agency from applicants requesting jobs and interviews. Of the 100, not one was without some kind of spelling, grammar or syntax error.
At first, Killian thought that a personal approach was best. When one of the letters came from a senior graduating from a fairly prestigious college and did not contain a single sentence without an error, Killian drafted a “gentle note,” advising the student to get some help with his writing.
What Killian got in response was an angry four-page reply.
“That really set him off,” Killian recalls. “We haven’t done it since. We don’t want to have to change the locks on the building.”
Unfortunately, in the 19 years of the company’s existence, the problem seems to be getting worse, which Killian attributes to changes in technology and everyday communication.
“There are a whole lot of people that can’t speak in an authentic voice,” Killian said. “We’re not a generation that writes a lot. Colleges don’t seem to be very demanding.
“Texting is making it worse. We’re getting printed letters with the letter ‘U’ standing for ‘you.’ And this kid wants to be hired in a communications position!”
While the site started off as just a joke within the company, its popularity has helped Killian find business clients and literary agents find him. A small book is currently being compiled with “Cover Letters from Hell” excerpts the company has collected over the years.
Though the site’s commentary pokes fun at applicants, Killian insists that ridicule is not really the point of the compilation.
“Quite a few [potential applicants] are intimidated from applying, or sending a cover letter at all, but all that they should do is exercise some care,” Killian said.
“I think if people just absorb what’s in there, they’ll at least be able to write clearly and express themselves in a meaningful way.”
And,
UK: New diploma ‘may leave youths fit for nothing but cheap labour’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1814242/posts
Pinging.
She has no idea about any accomplishments or deeds of Thomas Jefferson or Paul Revere.
She works for me after school in my office answering the phone. During slow times, I am teaching her to conjugate verbs.
She is now doing a report on global warming after having been required to view Algore's "Ode to Stupidity."
She is a Junior.
Another grandaughter is in private school.
She is studying calculus.
She turns 12 tomorrow.
Did you mean “too” easy?
And, you must hire them, or you'll ruin that carefully constructed self-esteem.
Ka-BAM!
Uh oh, this is getting series!
My wife, who teaches in the local community college, sees these errors from virtually all students. Few, if any, have ever been taught grammar or required to spell correctly. They honestly don't know how to construct a sentence, much less a coherent argument in a paragraph.
There is no longer any "common knowledge" unless it involves some current pop culture phenomenon.
I see high school proficiency exams on the web. They represent what my generation learned (back in the Stone Age) in elementary school.
The dumbing-down of America is purposeful. They’ll pull the proper party lever when instructed. Stems from The Frankfurt School of the 1940’s (the source of sensitivity training and concensus-building tactics) and their activity within the NEA these past decades.
You ought to see some of the printed materials we get from our teachers and administrators!
No.
But you will be told that it is because you are not paying your workers enough or that it is your job to train them. It can not be because the high school graduates are often poorly educated.
Once my company would hire anyone with an 8th grade education. Now we require a HSD or GED and you must pass a basic skills test. The skills test is at a sixth grade level. About half of our "high school graduates" can not pass it. Strangely enough we have yet to have a GED applicants have a problem with the skills test. Go figure.
Misspelling it doesn't bolster your argument.
They’re creating little democrats. Dumbed down and uninformed skulls full of mush make up the base of their party.
Queer studies, the dangers of global warming, and the history of the white male as the scourge of the earth take up most of their school time.
Every night I ask my daughter about homework: she says she does her math in English class, her phsyics in math class, etc.
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