Younger generation is in trouble

[[email protected]]

My wife and I took our kids and one of their friends to a double feature at the drive in theatre last night. Great time with the family!

The show was over at 1AM. As we were leaving I noticed a young couple had their hood open. I continued to pack up our stuff and told my wife to run over an ask if they needed a jump start.

My wife came back and was trying not to laugh. She said they were utterly clueless. The guy was searching google and thinks his starter is bad according to search results and told my wife he is trying to find the starter.

I finished packing the truck and pulled in front of him. He told me he is trying to find the starter.

I told him OK, lets try to jump it first. I asked him to work the flashlight (his phone) for me but he couldn't manage to point it at anything I was trying to see. Luckily my wife has some common sense and was able to point a light at the battery for me.

I give the guy one end of the cables and then notice he has no clue that you cant touch the ends together.

I hook them up and tell him to start the car and he asks me if there are any special instruction needed. I said no, just start the car.

The couple was amazed and thankful their starter was repaired so easily.

Its sad that a grown man has no idea that a battery may go dead from running a stereo for 4+ hrs and no idea on how to jump start a car.

When I got home that night, I went to let the dogs out into the back yard. I turned the knob but could tell it wasn't working. It just spun around and around but didn't engage the catch. I took the door knob apart in a few seconds with a screwdriver I keep in the kitchen drawer, grabbed a pair of pliers from the drawer, and operated the catch with the pliers. Opened the door, let the dogs out, removed the catch from the door, and put the knob back together and went to bed.

What would the couple do in a situation like this? Call a handyman to come out and repair the door because it can't be opened?

Its scary to see the lack of common sense in the younger generation. If your phone can't tell you how to do it, it can't be done.

 

[Redbone]

The man on the street interviews I have been seeing the last few years are pathetic, at first I could not believe they were this clueless but like you Mike it is discouraging when you see them in real life action.:bang head:

 

[V-Four]

My wife and I took our kids and one of their friends to a double feature at the drive in theatre last night. Great time with the family!

The show was over at 1AM. As we were leaving I noticed a young couple had their hood open. I continued to pack up our stuff and told my wife to run over an ask if they needed a jump start.

My wife came back and was trying not to laugh. She said they were utterly clueless. The guy was searching google and thinks his starter is bad according to search results and told my wife he is trying to find the starter.

I finished packing the truck and pulled in front of him. He told me he is trying to find the starter.

I told him OK, lets try to jump it first. I asked him to work the flashlight (his phone) for me but he couldn't manage to point it at anything I was trying to see. Luckily my wife has some common sense and was able to point a light at the battery for me.

I give the guy one end of the cables and then notice he has no clue that you cant touch the ends together.

I hook them up and tell him to start the car and he asks me if there are any special instruction needed. I said no, just start the car.

The couple was amazed and thankful their starter was repaired so easily.

Its sad that a grown man has no idea that a battery may go dead from running a stereo for 4+ hrs and no idea on how to jump start a car.

When I got home that night, I went to let the dogs out into the back yard. I turned the knob but could tell it wasn't working. It just spun around and around but didn't engage the catch. I took the door knob apart in a few seconds with a screwdriver I keep in the kitchen drawer, grabbed a pair of pliers from the drawer, and operated the catch with the pliers. Opened the door, let the dogs out, removed the catch from the door, and put the knob back together and went to bed.

What would the couple do in a situation like this? Call a handyman to come out and repair the door because it can't be opened?

Its scary to see the lack of common sense in the younger generation. If your phone can't tell you how to do it, it can't be done.

Scary indeed. Sadly, this IS going to be the future, once the "can do" (or maybe "will do") generations die off. :confused2:





as far as this:

What would the couple do in a situation like this? Call a handyman to come out and repair the door because it can't be opened?

I'm pretty sure they would just curl up in a ball in a safe space.. :rofl_200:



T$

 

[D-Max2012]

Check this out.. I went pier fishing last week. The day was sunny, about 88 and humid. So I decided to wear a white shirt and my faded jeans. While fishing, a group of young adults with a couple of kids were walking by. The male kept complaining that there was no shade on the pier, and he was getting hot an bothered.. So, as usual, they stopped to talk. I mentioned to the young man that, I overheard his complaint, and because of the weather, I decided to wear white. The young man asked, "does wearing the white shirt help?" His shirt was a dark burgundy color and black pants. I was surprised that he did not know, that darker colors absorb more heat from the sun. :bang head:

 

[caseyjones955]

I have a few younger acquaintances that cant seem to do anything that cant be done with keystrokes alone. We are in trouble.

I guess it's a good thing that in a few decades cars will have a fuckload less moving parts and much more automation.

 

[Buster Hymen]

I blame some of it on the school curriculum. My youngest son can't read or write cursive because they stopped teaching it in school! I'm teaching it to him so he can sign his name and not print it.

 

[Kronx]

I think every generation has them fellas. My daughter... she's taking pre-med and is sharp as a tack... my son... heart of gold but sometimes that boy....

Just today I texted my son:

"Email me your mailing address"

He texted me back his email address.

I didn't say anything - just text him back this youtube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnNSy6CqTcU

 

[[email protected]]

My wife has quite a few guys in her family that I get together with a few times a year and do some ATV/dirt bike riding. We go on multi-day trips together and have a blast.

All great guys but most of them are mechanically inept. Most could change a spark plug if they had to but their experience ends there.

A few years back, one of her cousins needed to tighten the chain on his bike. He asked me for help. Of course, they have no tools. I tell him I'll offer guidance but won't do it for him. Told him to grab my tools. I handed him the tools and I gave commentary.

I say, "Put the socket on the ratchet"
He is a nervous fellow. His eyes dart around as he examined the few tools in front of him trying to discern just what a socket and ratchet is.

We go over the details of which is the socket, which is the ratchet, how to install a socket on a ratchet, how to remove a socket from a ratchet.

The socket was a deep well. He picks it up with the ratchet handle pointing straight out like he is holding a hand gun. He looks at me and starts spinning wiggling his hand and the ratchet spins around freely in the air. "Like this?" he asks.

I then show him you hold the ratchet, the socket goes on the nut, you turn the ratchet.

He puts the socket on the nut, and turn the ratchet in the freewheel direction, multiple times, very fast. He was very impressed with himself and exclaimed, "Oh, this is easy!"

At that point, I lost it. I started laughing so hard tears were running.

It took a minute to gain my composure. Once I did, I showed him the right way to do it. I'd guess it took about 1 hour to tighten his chain. Since then, I try to teach him a little bit every time he needs something done, which is ever time we ride. He's gotten better.

 

[RaWarrior]

As a member of the millenial generation, I can confirm most of us are completely clueless when it comes to anything mechanical. The other day in the parking lot of my apartment I was working on my Burgman and I saw a couple attempting to change the tire on their new Infiniti SUV that had gone flat. They'd managed to pull the jack out of the trunk and the donut, but seemed pretty clueless past that. After a lot of fumbling around, they managed to jack up the car- then attempted to loosen the lug nuts. Of course the tire just spun around (fwd I guess, since it was a rear tire). At this the guy threw his hands up and the girl said they'd just call for a tow, but then would need to get an uber because she had to go to work.

I generally don't mess around with other people's business, and I hesitate to offer unsolicited help, especially with things that to me are extremely basic skills for someone who owns a car. The couple was clearly getting upset over this, the guy was on his phone probably googling how to change a tire while she was stomping around being bitchy. More feeling sorry for the guy I walked over and offered to help, cordless impact gun and floor jack in tow. I slip the gun on the nuts tire still in the air and zip off four in as many seconds. The Matco cordless gun has some serious balls to it, stronger than most air powered ones I've tried. The fifth was one of those security lugs. "Do you have the tool for this?" I asked, realizing about half way through of course they have no idea. They don't. I found it in the glovebox with the owner's manual, which had clearly never been touched. Zip the last lug off, put the donut on, zip the lugs back on, and drop the jack. Start to finish was less than 2 minutes. The guy was bewildered and the girl finally started to calm down. "That's it?" Yeah, that's it. Done. "How are you supposed to change the tire without that gun thingy, those don't come with the car?". It took a few tries to explain you would use the lug wrench with the weight of the car holding the tire in place. "Wouldn't the whole car roll away?" No. Wouldn't the tire fall off the car if you loosen it on the ground? No. The guy thanked me and the girl got in the car and left. He asked me how much a new tire was. I looked at it, had a nail right in the tread. "This one can be fixed, bring it to any tire shop. Shouldn't cost more than $20."

*sigh*

 

[Regular Guy]

As a member of the millenial generation, I can confirm most of us are completely clueless when it comes to anything mechanical. The other day in the parking lot of my apartment I was working on my Burgman and I saw a couple attempting to change the tire on their new Infiniti SUV that had gone flat. They'd managed to pull the jack out of the trunk and the donut, but seemed pretty clueless past that. After a lot of fumbling around, they managed to jack up the car- then attempted to loosen the lug nuts. Of course the tire just spun around (fwd I guess, since it was a rear tire). At this the guy threw his hands up and the girl said they'd just call for a tow, but then would need to get an uber because she had to go to work.

I generally don't mess around with other people's business, and I hesitate to offer unsolicited help, especially with things that to me are extremely basic skills for someone who owns a car. The couple was clearly getting upset over this, the guy was on his phone probably googling how to change a tire while she was stomping around being bitchy. More feeling sorry for the guy I walked over and offered to help, cordless impact gun and floor jack in tow. I slip the gun on the nuts tire still in the air and zip off four in as many seconds. The Matco cordless gun has some serious balls to it, stronger than most air powered ones I've tried. The fifth was one of those security lugs. "Do you have the tool for this?" I asked, realizing about half way through of course they have no idea. They don't. I found it in the glovebox with the owner's manual, which had clearly never been touched. Zip the last lug off, put the donut on, zip the lugs back on, and drop the jack. Start to finish was less than 2 minutes. The guy was bewildered and the girl finally started to calm down. "That's it?" Yeah, that's it. Done. "How are you supposed to change the tire without that gun thingy, those don't come with the car?". It took a few tries to explain you would use the lug wrench with the weight of the car holding the tire in place. "Wouldn't the whole car roll away?" No. Wouldn't the tire fall off the car if you loosen it on the ground? No. The guy thanked me and the girl got in the car and left. He asked me how much a new tire was. I looked at it, had a nail right in the tread. "This one can be fixed, bring it to any tire shop. Shouldn't cost more than $20."

*sigh*

That's a damn shame right there. My wife has read this post in its entirety and says it's the parent's fault for not showing their kids these things and I somewhat agree but it falls on the individual as well. I was really never shown how to do things but was around it enough for it to sink in AND I have the added bonus of having common sense, lol! Most things are pretty simple if you are smarter than what you're working on. Am I mechanic? Nope. Can I do things? Usually.

 

[adambweird]

The sad thing is, all of this is just basic stuff that everyone should know... i came across one kid (about 20) with a dead battery (forgot to turn off his amps... not sure why they had a power switch instead of auto turn on...) in a late 90's stick shift Civic. Asked him if he needed a push to start the car (forgot to put my jumpers back in my truck after cleaning) and he just looked at me confused, lol. I then told him you can push start a stick shift and explained the procedure. Unfortunately, i had to push the car for him because he couldnt budge a Civic, lol. Some of these kids woulda wound up in mental wards if they experienced elementary school in the lateish 80's, lol.

 

[Eugene Brad]

Common sense is subjective to ones surroundings experience, and interactions. We find it common that anyone driving a car should know the basics to maintain drivability. Unfortunately most of the younger generation, my cohorts included, were either never explained the importance of those basic or routine tasks or, what I see, is that most are just simply complacent and lazy. They have, in general, never had to do things for themselves so they don't know how too.
As a superintendent on construction sites one of the biggest mistakes I can make is assuming someone else's "common sense" especially with the younger, entry level laborers and carpenters. They could **** up a cup of coffee...
But hey, old guys, your not off the hook. I've seen some lack of knowledge from the older folk too. I had a 50+ dude walk rite over my caution tape and cones and take about three steps on freshly placed concrete. He says " it didn't look like it was wet" wtf. I didn't make a big deal of it but was certainly thinking....you can't very well tell if concrete is ok to walk on at a glance, which is why I had the tape up.
Anyway, my point would be, you don't know until you know.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk

 

[Kronx]

Wall Street Journal posted an article yesterday that made me think of this thread:

Millennials Unearth an Amazing Hack to Get Free TV: the Antenna
https://www.wsj.com/articles/millen...ng-hack-to-get-free-tv-the-antenna-1501686958

Millennials Unearth an Amazing Hack to Get Free TV: the Antenna
Cord-cutters accustomed to watching shows online are often shocked that $20 ‘rabbit ears’ pluck signals from the air; is this legal?

Michelle Herrick watches TV using an antenna with her 11-year-old twins.
Michelle Herrick watches TV using an antenna with her 11-year-old twins. PHOTO: MICHELLE HERRICK

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By Ryan Knutson
Aug. 2, 2017 11:15 a.m. ET
Dan Sisco has discovered a technology that allows him to access half a dozen major TV channels, completely free.

“I was just kind of surprised that this is technology that exists,” says Mr. Sisco, 28 years old. “It’s been awesome. It doesn’t log out and it doesn’t skip.”


Let’s hear a round of applause for TV antennas, often called “rabbit ears,” a technology invented roughly seven decades ago, long before there was even a cord to be cut, which had been consigned to the technology trash can along with cassette tapes and VCRs.

The antenna is mounting a quiet comeback, propelled by a generation that never knew life before cable television, and who primarily watchNetflix , Hulu and HBO via the internet. Antenna sales in the U.S. are projected to rise 7% in 2017 to nearly 8 million units, according to the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group.

ADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Sisco, an M.B.A. student in Provo, Utah, made his discovery after inviting friends over to watch the Super Bowl in 2014. The online stream he found to watch the game didn’t have regular commercials—disappointing half of his guests who were only interested in the ads.

“An antenna was not even on my radar,” he says. He went online and discovered he could buy one for $20 and watch major networks like ABC, NBC, Fox and CBS free.

There is typically no need to climb on a rooftop. While some indoor antennas still look like old-fashioned rabbit ears, many modern antennas are thin sheets that can be hidden behind a flat TV or hung like a picture frame.

But many consumers still aren’t getting the signal.

Carlos Villalobos, 21, who was selling tube-shaped digital antennas at a swap meet in San Diego recently, says customers often ask if his $20 to $25 products are legal. “They don’t trust me when I say that these are actually free local channels,” he says.

Carlos Villalobos sells digital antennas at a swap meet.
Carlos Villalobos sells digital antennas at a swap meet. PHOTO: RYAN KNUTSON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Earlier this year, he got an earful from a woman who didn’t get it. “She was mad,” he recalls. “She says, ‘No, you can’t live in America for free, what are you talking about?’”

Almost a third of Americans (29%) are unaware local TV is available free, according to a June survey by the National Association of Broadcasters, an industry trade group.

Since the dawn of television, the major networks have broadcast signals over the airwaves. It is free after buying an antenna, indoor or outdoor, and plugging it into your TV set. It still exists, though now most consumers have switched to cable television, which includes many more channels and costs upward of $100 a month.

Much of the confusion dates to federal legislation that required broadcasters to stop sending analog signals in 2009 and shift to high-definition digital transmissions. The change meant old TVs wouldn’t get the broadcasts, forcing consumers to buy new televisions or converter boxes to pick up the free signals.

Scott Wills, a wireless-industry executive living in the San Francisco Bay Area, worked for over a year on the legislation that set the transition in motion. Mr. Wills discussed his work extensively with his son, who was almost a teenager at the time.

About a decade later, Mr. Wills had a hunch many people, especially young people, thought the transition simply killed TV signals, rather than made them better. He asked his son.

“His answer was, ‘Dad, you should know better than anyone that there’s no broadcast TV!” Mr. Wills recalls. “He thought broadcast TV went away.”

His son, Hunter, now 24 and living in Chicago, says he mostly watches Netflix. “I had no idea,” he said of broadcast’s continued existence. “I’m still not even that familiar with the concept.”

Dan Sisco with his wife, Hysen, and son Thane in August 2016.
Dan Sisco with his wife, Hysen, and son Thane in August 2016.PHOTO: SISCO FAMILY

The Federal Communications Commission spent millions on a campaign to educate the public about the digital TV transition and Congress set aside more than $2 billion to help consumers pay for converters so old TV sets could process digital signals. But the focus was largely on older people who already relied on antennas.

William Lake oversaw the agency’s effort. A few years later, when he offered to buy an antenna for one of his daughters, then in her early 20s, so she and her roommates could get live TV, she had no idea what he was talking about.

“She thought it was some modern satellite service or something,” the former FCC official says.

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In 2013, during a congressional hearing about the satellite-television industry, the discussion turned to a contract dispute that temporarily left Time Warner Cable subscribers unable to watch CBS.

“Can I make one point?” said Gerard Waldron, an attorney who testified on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters. “I just want to emphasize that broadcast is a free, over the air service. So during the so-called blackout, the service was available 100% of the time. I realize that some people might not have antennas, or some people might have reception problems, but I do want to emphasize...”

“So I could have seen CBS if I had rabbit ears?” Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-Calif.) interjected. “I don’t think people knew that.”

A spokesman for Rep. Bass said she was aware TV antennas existed, just not that the station was still broadcast during a cable blackout.

Richard Schneider, founder of a St. Louis manufacturing company called Antennas Direct, says his occupation results in awkward small talk. “If I’m at a party and I tell people what I do for a living, they’ll say, ‘That’s still a thing?’ I’d think you’d be out of business by now.’”

Quite the opposite. He started selling antennas as a hobby more than 15 years ago and only expected to sell a few hundred each year. He says he sold 75,000 antennas in June. Even the latest high-definition flat-screen TVs need an antenna to get free broadcasts.

Michelle Herrick's digital antenna.PHOTO: MICHELLE HERRICK

Michelle Herrick, 39, a photographer in Phoenix, says she was desperate to cancel her cable subscription after her bill topped $200 a month. The only reason she hadn’t was because she wanted local stations.

Then, about two years ago, her mother told her about modern antennas. Now, Ms. Herrick is the one who regularly has to explain to puzzled guests how she’s able to watch free television. “Everyone I talked to, they had no idea.”

Even for those who have an antenna it can take some getting used to. In May, Robert Tomlinson, a 21-year-old college student in Kalamazoo, Mich., was bummed when he couldn’t stream ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” online. Then, he remembered his antenna. “I just forgot it was there.”

Write to Ryan Knutson at [email protected]

 

[Traumahawk]

A friend of mine's brother lives in Seattle. There is a job up there for people to hang curtains. Apparently millennials dont know how/dont want to hang curtains when they move into a house.....so they will pay some one else to do it.

 

[Fire-medic]

I saw a similar article awhile ago, maybe in Wired, or somewhere. "Wow, free TV!"

Have you heard about the new secret message method to transfer your thoughts? It's called cursive, and it encodes your thoughts so that others can read them if they have cursive comprehension training. With practice, you-too can use it! No keyboard, tablet, smartphone, laptop or computer required, just a graphite-inside hollow wood stick, and wood pulp bleached and rolled-flat and very thin, so it's all-natural ingredients, it's, like, organic!

Let me put-down my free-trade, decaf Costa Rica Hacienda Alsacia artisan small-batch roasted coffee, and I'll show you a youtube about it!

 

[Donny Daughtry]

Common sense is subjective to ones surroundings experience, and interactions. We find it common that anyone driving a car should know the basics to maintain drivability. Unfortunately most of the younger generation, my cohorts included, were either never explained the importance of those basic or routine tasks or, what I see, is that most are just simply complacent and lazy. They have, in general, never had to do things for themselves so they don't know how too.
As a superintendent on construction sites one of the biggest mistakes I can make is assuming someone else's "common sense" especially with the younger, entry level laborers and carpenters. They could **** up a cup of coffee...
But hey, old guys, your not off the hook. I've seen some lack of knowledge from the older folk too. I had a 50+ dude walk rite over my caution tape and cones and take about three steps on freshly placed concrete. He says " it didn't look like it was wet" wtf. I didn't make a big deal of it but was certainly thinking....you can't very well tell if concrete is ok to walk on at a glance, which is why I had the tape up.
Anyway, my point would be, you don't know until you know.

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I will agree with this. I'm sorry but labeling a generation on only a handful that each here have met seems pretty shallow.:confused2:

 

[D-Max2012]

I remember when that digital broadcast cut-over happened. Me,, being "Mr.Inquisitive", built my own digital antenna out of aluminum foil and corrugated plastic sheet, and picked up one of those digital converter boxes. Got rid of the box after getting a bigger digital TV, but to this day, I still have the antenna. AND, when I'm tired of paying these high cable bills, I'll be using it again.:biglaugh:

 

[Traumahawk]

Common sense is subjective to ones surroundings experience, and interactions. We find it common that anyone driving a car should know the basics to maintain drivability. Unfortunately most of the younger generation, my cohorts included, were either never explained the importance of those basic or routine tasks or, what I see, is that most are just simply complacent and lazy. They have, in general, never had to do things for themselves so they don't know how too.
As a superintendent on construction sites one of the biggest mistakes I can make is assuming someone else's "common sense" especially with the younger, entry level laborers and carpenters. They could **** up a cup of coffee...
But hey, old guys, your not off the hook. I've seen some lack of knowledge from the older folk too. I had a 50+ dude walk rite over my caution tape and cones and take about three steps on freshly placed concrete. He says " it didn't look like it was wet" wtf. I didn't make a big deal of it but was certainly thinking....you can't very well tell if concrete is ok to walk on at a glance, which is why I had the tape up.
Anyway, my point would be, you don't know until you know.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk

LOL, I have a job in industrial safety, because Common sense isnt so Common.

 

[ga_max]

Unfortunately I believe a digital signal requires 'line of sight' so if you may have issues if you are blocked by other houses or terrain (hills, mountains). I tried putting one in our attic facing to Atlanta and got nothing. Thanks mother Earth 8^).

 

[Redbone]

If I lived in a more urban area I would retire immediately and open a business to cater to the millennial's who need someone to do those puzzling manual labor things. Unfortunately (for my future business aspirations), most of the kids around here are mostly self sufficient.