Sad - but true

[balidey]

Back onto food, years ago many families had alotments, or had a section of their garden as a veg plot. We do have a small area and have grown the basics, spuds, carrots, lettuces, several fruits.
But now, how often do you see an alotment? I know the council round my area are trying to build roads over many of them.
So less and less families are being involved with food in its most basic form.

But the flip side is, kids all have smart phones and have access to the internet with far more information at their fingertips, no need to go to a library to find stuff out, so why the hell do most of them appear thick as pig shit when they have access to a wealth of knowledge? Thats what confuses me.

---

And just to add, many years ago I went to Macdonals and asked for 12 chicken nuggets. I got the reply: 'Sorry we don't sell 12's. Would two 6's be OK?'.
Now you can't fault her maths in that one.

 

[Curator]

And told me she had never seen them 'come like that'

Unless you mis-understood her reaction?
Maybe she has never seen them come un-packaged before.
But then the fact she asked what it was sort of puts this point to rest... maybe.

 

[Bechet]

And told me she had never seen them 'come like that'

Unless you mis-understood her reaction?
Maybe she has never seen them come un-packaged before.
But then the fact she asked what it was sort of puts this point to rest... maybe.

Err..... that is the point.

 

[StuW]

Working on the railway it seems like everyone leaves their brain at home. An example would be when people ask where your train is going despite the location being on the front of the train, being parked next to a display with the location on and the announcer announcing where we are going, and then after you told them, the next person who was in earshot asks the same question!!!. Another amusing observation is when the train boarding is not the one at the beginning of the platform and is locked up, yet person after person (often after watching someone else do the same thing) pushes a door open button! I mean, if it didn't work for the person in front of you, it's not going to work for you!

 

[UKRob]

Working on the railway it seems like everyone leaves their brain at home. An example would be when people ask where your train is going despite the location being on the front of the train, being parked next to a display with the location on and the announcer announcing where we are going, and then after you told them, the next person who was in earshot asks the same question!!!. Another amusing observation is when the train boarding is not the one at the beginning of the platform and is locked up, yet person after person (often after watching someone else do the same thing) pushes a door open button! I mean, if it didn't work for the person in front of you, it's not going to work for you!

I find this quite a patronising response. Perhaps they are asking out of incredulity that the train is where it is supposed to be at the right time.

As to there being a locked up train at the front - I think most people would be right to assume that the train in front is the one that will leave first.

 

[StuW]

I find this quite a patronising response...

Perhaps they are asking out of incredulity that the train is where it is supposed to be at the right time.

As to there being a locked up train at the front - I think most people would be right to assume that the train in front is the one that will leave first.

You missed my point, I mean the beginning being the end next to the buffers hence not being able to go anywhere without catastrophic results.

 

[UKRob]

May I take that a little further, Jim - with apologies to Sharon.

I spent some time supporting two bunches of lads, one training to be brick-layers and the other carpenters. They were required to hold NVQ1 certificates in order to work and were having difficulties with the maths and English parts. They had been boxed and shelves years ago, were convinced they couldn't do maths and English and anyway, as one lad put it, "I don't care how many bricks it takes to build a wall. That's the Foreman's job."

They could all lay bricks or carpenter wood but they couldn't get this minimum qualification - and therefore, they told me, wouldn't be able to work in their chosen trade. What is going to happen - or what is happening to them, by now?

Their idea of food was that it came in frozen packets.

Thoroughly nice lads who had given up on Society because it had given up on them - and I didn't count, apparently. They were intrigued that I wore an ear-stud in my right ear lobe but wasn't gay - or so I said, they said.

I just don't believe that anyone who can lay bricks or is adept at carpentry would be denied a job because their English and Maths is not good enough. It may hold them back, certainly, but to describe it as society giving up on them is pure Carl tosh.

---

I find this quite a patronising response...

Perhaps they are asking out of incredulity that the train is where it is supposed to be at the right time.

As to there being a locked up train at the front - I think most people would be right to assume that the train in front is the one that will leave first.

You missed my point, I mean the beginning being the end next to the buffers hence not being able to go anywhere without catastrophic results.

So, the beginning is the end - that's pretty confusing to anyone. I assume the train can reverse - how else is it going to move?

 

[Bechet]

May I take that a little further, Jim - with apologies to Sharon.

I spent some time supporting two bunches of lads, one training to be brick-layers and the other carpenters. They were required to hold NVQ1 certificates in order to work and were having difficulties with the maths and English parts. They had been boxed and shelves years ago, were convinced they couldn't do maths and English and anyway, as one lad put it, "I don't care how many bricks it takes to build a wall. That's the Foreman's job."

They could all lay bricks or carpenter wood but they couldn't get this minimum qualification - and therefore, they told me, wouldn't be able to work in their chosen trade. What is going to happen - or what is happening to them, by now?

Their idea of food was that it came in frozen packets.

Thoroughly nice lads who had given up on Society because it had given up on them - and I didn't count, apparently. They were intrigued that I wore an ear-stud in my right ear lobe but wasn't gay - or so I said, they said.

I just don't believe that anyone who can lay bricks or is adept at carpentry would be denied a job because their English and Maths is not good enough. It may hold them back, certainly, but to describe it as society giving up on them is pure Carl tosh.

Oh! you met them as well did you, Rob? So you know all about their school history and why they were so far behind in these essential studies, why they needed so much extra support? They described themselves as having been abandoned by Society - or, a more accurate quote, "The Government doesn't give a fuck about us! No-one does.". But you know best, as usual.

To get a job, they needed an NVQ1. To get an NVQ1, they needed maths and English. Ergo, to get a job, they needed maths and English. Very basic levels but beyond their abilities at 17 years old. And, of course, funding was withdrawn for the extra support they were getting. So no, definitely not abandoned. I suppose they'd be old enough now to have their Benefits cut, too.

 

[StuW]

So, the beginning is the end - that's pretty confusing to anyone. I assume the train can reverse - how else is it going to move?

station |-----------------------
station |--Train 1--Train2---
station |-----------------------
^^^^^^^
Beginning

Clearer?

The station I work at that i'm alluding to..

 

[ollie9091]

Re: RE: Sad - but true

May I take that a little further, Jim - with apologies to Sharon.

I spent some time supporting two bunches of lads, one training to be brick-layers and the other carpenters. They were required to hold NVQ1 certificates in order to work and were having difficulties with the maths and English parts. They had been boxed and shelves years ago, were convinced they couldn't do maths and English and anyway, as one lad put it, "I don't care how many bricks it takes to build a wall. That's the Foreman's job."

They could all lay bricks or carpenter wood but they couldn't get this minimum qualification - and therefore, they told me, wouldn't be able to work in their chosen trade. What is going to happen - or what is happening to them, by now?

Their idea of food was that it came in frozen packets.

Thoroughly nice lads who had given up on Society because it had given up on them - and I didn't count, apparently. They were intrigued that I wore an ear-stud in my right ear lobe but wasn't gay - or so I said, they said.

I just don't believe that anyone who can lay bricks or is adept at carpentry would be denied a job because their English and Maths is not good enough. It may hold them back, certainly, but to describe it as society giving up on them is pure Carl tosh.

Oh! you met them as well did you, Rob? So you know all about their school history and why they were so far behind in these essential studies, why they needed so much extra support? They described themselves as having been abandoned by Society - or, a more accurate quote, "The Government doesn't give a fuck about us! No-one does.". But you know best, as usual.

To get a job, they needed an NVQ1. To get an NVQ1, they needed maths and English. Ergo, to get a job, they needed maths and English. Very basic levels but beyond their abilities at 17 years old. And, of course, funding was withdrawn for the extra support they were getting. So no, definitely not abandoned. I suppose they'd be old enough now to have their Benefits cut, too.

They feel the government doesn't give a fuck about them...woe me they cry!. Maybe they should have tried harder at school
They failed the system and not vice versa.

 

[UKRob]

Carl, the qualifications you are talking about are only available to those in work.

 

[Nishy]

Re: RE: Sad - but true

Remember the cheapest loose item they carry and when asked, simply tell them your Alphonso Mango is an orange. Not that we get Alphonso Mango here now ... thanks, EU!

Your comment rather reminds me of that dippy bint (sorry for the sexism) who posted about her cruelty-free meat that she buys from the supermarket, where they make the meat, not kill it. It was on Facebook, or something equally dim.

But yes, I can sympathise with your view that large corporations have both divorced end product from raw material and even productivised (if that's a word) raw materials. Folks actually fear things outside of a box without instructions - they've actually no idea what to do with ... well ... ingredients.

Didn't we have a "law" thread going? My law would be that all school children, sod Maths, Languages and whatever else kids learn today; kids should learn the basics of cooking, washing, cleaning and money management. You "fail" high school without passing this ... because you will fail in life otherwise. And sod Maths, Languages and so on ... you learn more about angles playing pool, more about fast subtraction playing darts and more about language by walking down any inner city high street than you would in school.

Cook, clean, maintain yourself and keep a lid on your finances.

... or am I being a bore? No, I'm being a bore and should fill out that application form for UKIP.

Grab those sweet mangos from Kingsbury 3 boxes for a tenner!

I don't want to sound obtrusive but I worked my ass off to get good grades at school and beyond. I think the problem is concentration and focus. Today TV, consoles, football, girls etc are more interesting than sitting down in a library and reading a book or studying a newspaper article to learn new vocabulary or even going to an after school study group. People now mainly study out of necessity rather than interest.

Going back to concentration and focus, obviously books alone need not be omnipotent, but in order to improve basic skills such as maths and English, both the above are needed without getting bored and giving up, which in this day and age is easier.

At 16 (now 30)I was asked to go to America to study at Harvard under a scholarship working with Professor Ramachandran on the thesis of human ecology and the Rhesus monkey. I chose to stay and do my A-levels but my point is it took 3 hours study daily, Monday to Friday plus writing 12 essays a week from 13 to get my mark boosted from a D to A*. In this process one teacher was sacked as I was being discriminated against. So you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it regardless of barriers.

 

[Bechet]

Carl, the qualifications you are talking about are only available to those in work.

I bow to your superior knowledge but someone should tell City College, Southampton to stop conning their students then! My two mobs were on the 'stay at school' benefit - can't recall it's name - studying for a qualification denied to them by Rob's Law. As were loads and rooms full of kids besides. Hairdressers, bricklayers, plumbers, chefs, hotel staff trades - you name it. Under 18, studying for NVQ1. I think the 'for' is important.

 

[UKRob]

Carl, the qualifications you are talking about are only available to those in work.

I bow to your superior knowledge but someone should tell City College, Southampton to stop conning their students then! My two mobs were on the 'stay at school' benefit - can't recall it's name - studying for a qualification denied to them by Rob's Law. As were loads and rooms full of kids besides. Hairdressers, bricklayers, plumbers, chefs, hotel staff trades - you name it. Under 18, studying for NVQ1. I think the 'for' is important.

So my summary of a load of tosh was right then. I repeat you have to be in employment to study for NVQs.

 

[Bechet]

No, Rob, you don't. Just like the first train going last, they study for an NVQ1 and then get a job - or try to - subject to passing the exam. Or so I was told, I've never worked that far down the food chain - but I do remember that the first step to achieving Chartered Engineer status was passing my 'O'-Levels because my Cadetship depended on me having them. I studied for my 'O'-Levels before I was offered a Cadetship. I went to Grammar School but my scholarship place there was subject to passing exams, for which I studied before I was old enough to go to Grammar School. And so on and so forth ad nauseum. And all this is entirely beside the point - the guys felt they had been abandoned and could mount a damned good argument to demonstrate the point. The then undiagnosed dyslexics, slow learners, learning difficulties, un-encouraged, problem families. At what point do we start blaming children for having failed the system rather than the system having failed them? (I noted someone doing just this earlier.)

 

[JohnVaux]

A month or two back, whilst partaking in tea and scones locally, I was asked why 2 adjacent doors were labeled WC, I politely explained albeit in disbelief alongside my 45 ,(I'm 39 fwiw) year old SOH.

I'll never let my daughter live that one down !!!