BATMAN In the end, whether it is what a kid learns or how they behave, it all comes down to one thing and that is parenting.
In the end, whether it is what a kid learns or how they behave, it all comes down to one thing and that is parenting.
This, This, This.
It's nice to see though that the older generation thinks so little of us "millenials" though.
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
hobo9941 Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to "sign their name"{usually a scribble of some sort}?? Because cursive is pointless. It doesn't have much use. I'm 32. I haven't written anything in cursive since fifth grade. Why did they waste that time in second, third, and fourth grade? Are you aware they barely teach printing much anymore? This is outright wrong.
Are you aware they no longer teach cursive writing in school beyond how to "sign their name"{usually a scribble of some sort}?? Because cursive is pointless. It doesn't have much use. I'm 32. I haven't written anything in cursive since fifth grade. Why did they waste that time in second, third, and fourth grade?
Are you aware they barely teach printing much anymore? This is outright wrong.
it's still a pretty necessary skill. Say, sending thank-you notes (especially important after a big event, say getting married.)
hobo9941Are you aware they don't teach kids how to address an envelope anymore? Because this isn't relevant. I have sent exactly one piece of mail in the last four years. I can't remember what it was, but I remember having to go buy a stamp for something. Every incoming bill or notification can be dealt with online. And half of those don't even come in the mail. Verizon and Comcast send me texts saying I have a bill due. The City of Alexandria sends me a letter in the mail saying "go online and pay your property tax."
Thank you notes, invitations - especially for a wedding ... don't think paper invites will ever be done away with for that. Correspondance with friends (I know several people who're like "send a letter - it's more personal" ... and they're mid-30s tops)
Burlington Northern #24 BATMAN In the end, whether it is what a kid learns or how they behave, it all comes down to one thing and that is parenting. This, This, This. It's nice to see though that the older generation thinks so little of us "millenials" though.
s'OK ... I'm at the head end of said generation, and I don't typically like the millenials either ... but that's more because the boomers and GenX really did a number to social norms (and we're just in the fallout, as it were).
Granted, these are gross generalizations, and individuals/sub-groups of said generations can be great to sit down and have a chat with.
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Burlington Northern #24It's nice to see though that the older generation thinks so little of us "millenials" though.
One of my complaints about the "millenials" is how some mothers plays bumper cars with their overly wide baby buggies its like get out of my way or else! Of course,I stear clear of grocery stores the first 2-3 days of the month..The old hags plays bumper cars with their shopping carts.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Hi,
Lots of thoughts on this, and frankly it all depends on the mfg as to whether they will respond or not. I've never been shy about contacting them (over many decades) and found some like BLI or the old Lifelike and Atlas were absolutely outstanding, while some others were horrible (they all went out of business).
For what its worth, I feel an email or a call will get you a response faster and more often than a postal letter, and persistance is the name of the game. I've had dealings with Bachmann which yielded very good results, but I had to be a thorn before that happened.
Sadly, while a mailed letter with an enclosed stamped reply envelope should be a positive way of getting results, it just isn't in todays world.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
This is all about not learning useless stuff. This is a good thing! Daughter wished they would not insist on Algebra in college, another worthless skill for most people, I have needed it twice in my lifetime and then it was for hobby reasons. I worked in the trades and never needed it!!!!
Useless? Algebra also teaches you larger lessons in problem solving, it's not just about the nitty gritty of the the particular course. Of course, you can also say that about geometry, trigonometry and calculus.
No doubt we should only teach history to those who would be historians or history teachers. Who cares about that stuff. We should eliminate all literature courses because, hey, I'm a plumber and don't don't find the works of Mark Twain or Nathaniel Hawthorne relevant to my job.
For that matter, why force people to take English courses? What plumber or machinist or engineer or whatever (apart from English teachers) cares about grammar, syntax, spelling and clear communication? Well, come to think of it, the teaching of English seems to be in severe decline judging by the number of people who can't distinguish "there" from "their" from "they're" and who definitely don't know that "wave" and "waive" have two (as opposed to "too" and "to") entirely different meanings.
Andre
Incidentally, pick up a copy of "Shop Theory" by James Anderson and Earl Tatro sometime. It's basically a primer on the use of machine tools. Interestingly enough, you'd better know trigonometry to understand some of what's discussed. There are actually entire books written on shop mathematics.
http://tinyurl.com/shopmath
I took 3 years of high school Latin. Do I read books in Latin? No. Do I speak Latin? No. Did I ever use Latin on the job? No. Do I find it useful, nonetheless? Yes.
EDIT: For those of you that think spelling doesn't count, I give you this gem: http://imgur.com/r/speling/SIPKA
Since this thread is drifting off into "Get off my lawn" vs. "Never trust anyone over 30" terrority, let me just indicate that since the OP Run Eight clearly has internet access, he should just e-mail. I have had great success rate with e-mail responses, unlike the dark days of the turn of the century when e-mail was usually a black hole. I only call when I have an active order with a company that needs a correction or update (I've done this twice with Walthers in the recent past), otherwise e-mail.Relevant aside - recently I have been rereading some of my Dad's old Science and Mechanics magzines from the late 1960s-early 1970s (I read them the first time as a little kid - they ended up stored on a shelf in the basement for all these years), and yes the method of contacting companies was vastly different in tnose days - the SASE was KING, along with those small tear-out cards to mail (which I guess some magazines still have) and similar Reader Service cards (you actually circled numbers on a card for various catalogs like Edmunds Scentific or J.C. Whitney, sent in the card along with 25 cents, and got the catalogs mailed to you). Very few phone numbers listed (the hilarious columnist Joe Gutts would sometimes give out the number of some of the more obscure companies, but usually gave only a postal mail address), and of course no e-mail or web-sites, since Arpanet went live in 1969 and nobody would be blogging* for quite awhile after that...*Blogging and e-mail as we know it today - not the Victorian Internet (via telegraph) styles