I worry about the state of America's future
Yesterday, I came back from a short trip to Wisconsin and something happened that has gotten me worried about the state of America.
I was somewhere in Iowa, about halfway between where I live in Southeast Kansas and where Mom lives in Wisconsin. I needed some gas and there was a McDonalds right next door, so I decided to stop to get something to eat and to fill up on gas.
I go into the McDonalds and wait for something like over 5 minutes before someone took my order. Another lady that was in there said that this was the slowest McDonalds she has ever been in, and she has been in a lot. Finally, after getting a little agitated, this young girl, probably no more than 17-18 years old, takes my order. I ordered a 3 piece chicken strip meal which came out to $6.71. I gave her a $10 bill and said, "Hold on, let me see if I have a penny." I looked through my wallet and found a penny to give to her.
She had the most confused look on her face and said, "But I already put in the amount and it would throw my count off."
At this point, I have been on the road for something like 5 hours and had at least 5 more hours to go. So I looked at her, telling her that it would not throw her register off and she should give me 30 cents instead of 29 cents.
Not that hard of math, is it? She could not figure it out! She called someone over and he told her the same thing that I did. She still thought that it would throw her register off, because someone else had told her that it would. He assured her that this person would not have said that and it would be okay.
So after all of this, I was getting frustrated and asked her if she could do math and if she had ever cashiered before. She claimed that she has been doing this for a year.
After all of this, and two people telling her what the amount of change should be, she took my penny and gave me 29 cents back.
At this point, I am about ready to strangle some sense into this girl and proceed to tell her that now her register is a penny over. She was beyond understanding and was messing up the next order, which was an employee that needed a discounted meal. When the guy that she talked to before came over, I told him that she messed up and needed to give me a nickel. I gave back the 4 pennies and he gave me a nickel.
I went to go sit down and eat my food beyond words to describe how frustrated I was. It was not like I was asking her to do higher level math. All I wanted was to get rid of one penny in my wallet and not get 4 more.
I told this whole story to Mike and he said that I should have put her 4 pennies with my one and then asked for a nickel. My friend Krystal said that this is our public school system at work. No one is able to think for themselves anymore and figure anything out. If the answer is not given to them by a calculator or given them the correct spelling answer by spell check, they figure that they don't need to learn it.
I worry about what is going to happen when our children reach my age or older. Are we going to have a country of functional idiots? Someone that can function in society, but cannot think creatively or abstractly. I can see why the rest of the world thinks of American as stupid. Our children are more worried about getting the latest video game than learning how to do something like drawing or learning an instrument. The want the easy way out of things or something handed to them instead of actually using their brain and figuring it out for themselves.
I love this country, and if this is the norm, then I am scared about it's future.
I was somewhere in Iowa, about halfway between where I live in Southeast Kansas and where Mom lives in Wisconsin. I needed some gas and there was a McDonalds right next door, so I decided to stop to get something to eat and to fill up on gas.
I go into the McDonalds and wait for something like over 5 minutes before someone took my order. Another lady that was in there said that this was the slowest McDonalds she has ever been in, and she has been in a lot. Finally, after getting a little agitated, this young girl, probably no more than 17-18 years old, takes my order. I ordered a 3 piece chicken strip meal which came out to $6.71. I gave her a $10 bill and said, "Hold on, let me see if I have a penny." I looked through my wallet and found a penny to give to her.
She had the most confused look on her face and said, "But I already put in the amount and it would throw my count off."
At this point, I have been on the road for something like 5 hours and had at least 5 more hours to go. So I looked at her, telling her that it would not throw her register off and she should give me 30 cents instead of 29 cents.
Not that hard of math, is it? She could not figure it out! She called someone over and he told her the same thing that I did. She still thought that it would throw her register off, because someone else had told her that it would. He assured her that this person would not have said that and it would be okay.
So after all of this, I was getting frustrated and asked her if she could do math and if she had ever cashiered before. She claimed that she has been doing this for a year.
After all of this, and two people telling her what the amount of change should be, she took my penny and gave me 29 cents back.
At this point, I am about ready to strangle some sense into this girl and proceed to tell her that now her register is a penny over. She was beyond understanding and was messing up the next order, which was an employee that needed a discounted meal. When the guy that she talked to before came over, I told him that she messed up and needed to give me a nickel. I gave back the 4 pennies and he gave me a nickel.
I went to go sit down and eat my food beyond words to describe how frustrated I was. It was not like I was asking her to do higher level math. All I wanted was to get rid of one penny in my wallet and not get 4 more.
I told this whole story to Mike and he said that I should have put her 4 pennies with my one and then asked for a nickel. My friend Krystal said that this is our public school system at work. No one is able to think for themselves anymore and figure anything out. If the answer is not given to them by a calculator or given them the correct spelling answer by spell check, they figure that they don't need to learn it.
I worry about what is going to happen when our children reach my age or older. Are we going to have a country of functional idiots? Someone that can function in society, but cannot think creatively or abstractly. I can see why the rest of the world thinks of American as stupid. Our children are more worried about getting the latest video game than learning how to do something like drawing or learning an instrument. The want the easy way out of things or something handed to them instead of actually using their brain and figuring it out for themselves.
I love this country, and if this is the norm, then I am scared about it's future.