People over 35 should be dead

[Foo]

me too. :beer:


How did you write reports? By hand? What if you had bad handwritting? Or what if you made a mistake. *shakes head* i could never survive without technology.

Our reports back in the olden days were by hand, AOF. If you had bad handwriting, you got a bad grade until you learned to make your handwriting neater. And if you made a mistake, you erased it (pencil) or tried to erase it (pen) until you rubbed a hole in the paper and had to start over. I know that I had to start over more than once, after a page was almost completely written, for that reason- either a mistake or a mistake-hole.

When I was a senior in H.S., I hand-wrote a 30-page research paper. I'm sure some others here can top that.

BTW, your post made me feel older than dirt. :satisfied LOL

 

[RichLockyer]

How did you write reports? By hand?

By hand, or in my case, I learned to type on Mom's old cast-iron Underwood when I was about 7.

What if you had bad handwritting?

You got downgraded. I got downgraded for typing (until I got into high school), but not as badly as I would have gotten downgraded by writing.

Or what if you made a mistake.

Eraser, fresh paper, or if you typed AND your parents were rich, you could use a correcting ribbon that covered the wrong letters with white.
Useful for typos... composition errors always resulted in a new sheet of paper.

We knew the difference between you, you're, and your.
We knew that "definite" did not have an "a" in it, because we knew that it was an expansion of "finite" as in "infinite".

 

[Afraid_of_Fish]

We knew the difference between you, you're, and your.
We knew that "definite" did not have an "a" in it, because we knew that it was an expansion of "finite" as in "infinite".

That's a bit harsh. I saw a statistic in the paper that said only 23% of adult Americans can pass an 8th grade math test. I believe it too; our lives, as far as exercise goes, may have gotten easier, but our academic work load definetly hasn't. I doubt very much that there is one person in my Literature class that can not tell the difference between "your" and "you're". Then again, that may be because I go to private school...

 

[RichLockyer]

That's a bit harsh. I saw a statistic in the paper that said only 23% of adult Americans can pass an 8th grade math test. I believe it too

So do I. It's not just the kids that seem to have lost it.

our lives, as far as exercise goes, may have gotten easier, but our academic work load definetly hasn't.

The problem has become one of "social promotion" and grading on a curve. In my schools, if you got an A or a B, it was because you earned it and knew the material. If you got a D, it's because you didn't know the material.
A benefit of this is that the "smart guy" didn't "throw the curve" and get picked on

I doubt very much that there is one person in my Literature class that can not tell the difference between "your" and "you're". Then again, that may be because I go to private school...

I'm sure a lot of these mistakes are simple typos, but I've actually seen equipment manuals IN PRINT saying things like "Take you tool AB123..."... I'm not talking about poorly translated manuals out of the Orient either... I'm talking about US companies and products with otherwise good documentation.

 

[bashan]

Dude!
This is so true.
But remember:
Every generation
Think less of it successors

 

[RichLockyer]

Dude!
This is so true.
But remember:
Every generation
Think less of it successors

Absolutely.

I am often very pleasantly surprised. It makes me feel a little better about our future.

Hey... someone has to be intelligent enough to take care of me when I'm 110

 

[Afraid_of_Fish]

The problem has become one of "social promotion" and grading on a curve. In my schools, if you got an A or a B, it was because you earned it and knew the material. If you got a D, it's because you didn't know the material.
A benefit of this is that the "smart guy" didn't "throw the curve" and get picked on

Got me there. I don't believe in curving or scaling grades, a lot of teachers do seem to do it, though. I think they believe it makes their students seems 'smarter', but the rest of us know better. As far as the MCAS go with this 'Special Education if you have ADD you automaticly pass' bull, it's crazy. It makes it so no one ever has to actually learn anything. Okay, I'm done ranting about the schooling system now lol.

 

[KittyKate]

Personally, I think I'd rather squeeze toothpaste from a lead tube than eat beef raised on steroids or drink lemonade with "Yellow Dye #5" or eat something with "Monosodium Glutomate".

Until about 5 years ago my mother had a bottle of monosodium glutamate in the pantry....she used to pour it over meat then bash the life out of it with a mallet to tenderise it....

Mother also cooked everything with lard - did any of you experience lard?? It's the fat that drips out of meat, she'd catch the fat with a tray under the meat then keep it in the fridge till the next meal and use it to baste the meat..... heaven knows how my blood can flow through my arteries - although maybe it was diluted by all the red cordial/Fanta/Coke I used to drink!

 

[KittyKate]

Please don't get me started on education levels..... I work in a University for goodness sake and the spelling is atrocious...must be the reliance on spellchecker!

As for the next generation, sure they won't experience a lot of the stuff we did (some of which you have to admit was downright dangerous!) but we're making sure all the neices and nephews get plenty of outdoors time, and my brother-in-law is brilliant at thinking up outrageous but semi-safe (!!) games for the kids.... guess it's up to us to make sure our children and grandchildren are adventurous and live life a little on the edge.

 

[miketsp]

Please don't get me started on education levels..... I work in a University for goodness sake and the spelling is atrocious...must be the reliance on spellchecker!

..snip..
but we're making sure all the neices and nephews get
..snip..