Am I getting old, or are youngsters getting stoopid?

[Manky Monkey]

Chatting to a lad at work today, he's about 18. I mentioned coal in the conversation -he genuinely didnt know what I was talking about. I was shocked. Eventually, the only reference to it he could understand was charcoal for barbeques, although he had no idea what that's made of or where it comes from.
When I told him there was no such thing as central heating when I was his age & that a bloke used to deliver sacks of coal to your house to burn on an open fire, he was convinced I was joking. I suppose kids now just don't see things like that anymore so don't think about it, in the same way they don't connect the milk in their fridge with cows.
God I'm getting old.

[morrag]

But it does make you wonder what they actually learn that is of value in school! I mean you can know of the Roman Empire without actually ever having met a legionary!!!

[Manky Monkey]

I guess they don't have to know anything anymore -they just have to know how to find it on the 'net.

[Chevy Rick]

I burn coal along with logs in my fire and last year run low on the prepacked coal, so called in the local garage to see what price they charge, it was £3 more a bag than where I usually go, so said to the garage owner why was it so much more expensive, his answer was when petrol and diesel go up in price so does coal as it all comes from the same  OPEC country's and that's from a bloke in his late fifties so you can see where the youngsters of today get it from.

[BikerGran]

Mike and I had this conversation the other day.  It's a fact that although they get their heads stuffed with stuff from the Natinal Curriculum, they don't actually learn anything useful - the stuff we used to call 'General Knowledge'

We knew all sorts of random stuff!

[Olds]

Linda ( that's Mrs Old ) recons that one electromagnetic pulse or solar flare would show just how dependant those under a certain age are on modern technology.
Most youngsters seem to have difficulty with reading a map, have no idea how anything actually works etc. and without the internet have little clue how to find even the most basic information.
They learn a lot but know very little.
God help the future.

[BikerGran]

Sheesh, it's not only youngsters that can't read a map - lots of folks who get a satnav seem to forget - or maybe they never could?   Same people don't know where they've been or even where they are unless the satnav tells them!

[poprodder]

both my kids know how to lay an open fire an light it, then make sure its kept topped up with coal.
but then i am a bit old skool, having just bought a 22yr old car as a daily!!!

[kevsky]

used to work with an old guy who had all the young uns believing he used to have a gas tv

[Olds]

And whats wrong with having a gas tv
I try to show my youngsters (I say young but they are both adults now) that there are ways to do most things, that doesn't require the use of the latest technology or equipment only availiable to big companies.
Think I was lucky, when I was 14, my Aunt gave me some packing cases that contained an NSU fully stripped down and I mean fully stripped down plus a manual. That was my first motorised project. Also she taught me how to lace and true wheels, even in her 80s she is still the best wheel builder I have ever known.
Mr MM will know who I am talking about and I suspect so will most Basingstoke bikers over the age of 50.
I owe her big time.

[nabsim]

Next time. You see him Andy just mention that there were no tv's either then watch his eyes glaze over

[merv]

Next time. You see him Andy just mention that there were no tv's either then watch his eyes glaze over

  I can remember those days, do that mean I'm old

[nabsim]

Thinking about it Merv I think Andy is only 50 so bet he won't remember before tv

[ROD]

Daughters (new) boyfriend visits us.Hes 24 yrs old and works for Morissons bakery. Properly trained by them as a baker,been to college etc.We got to talking about bread and I mentioned how the grain is milled to make flower.He looked puzzled.
 Me.. Bit of a big step from windmills,with old 'windy miller' running the mills then eh? .
 Daughter..oh,is that what those things with big sails are for! I thought they were just for show!
 I looks at him ,and he says,I didnt know that either!
 Me....So how come that you use flour and dont know where it comes from then?
 Him..comes out of a sack!
 me ..yeah,just like milk comes out of a bottle!
  It isnt as if we havent taught our daughter about these things!   She's blonde and from Essex...so enuf said I s'pose!

[Manky Monkey]

Mr MM will know who I am talking about and I suspect so will most Basingstoke bikers over the age of 50.

Yup, I remember Betty. She ruled the motorcycle department of Giffords bike shop in Basingstoke when I was a teenager. She didn't take any nonsense from us lippy kids who thought we knew better than her cos she was old, (she couldn't have been more than 50 at that time. Same age as me now). I remember being chased down the stairs from her counter above the bicycle shop several times! -then realising I had to go back & apologise or she wouldn't order the parts for my Bonny.

First memory of colour TV was coming home from primary school one day to find the Beatles on the telly, playing live. I watched for several minutes before it suddenly dawned on me that they were in colour! I also vividly remember my parents camping out in the living room in sleeping bags to watch the drama of the Apollo 13 mission unfold, cos there was only one TV in the house.