So after a long hiatus, I'm back to tackle this week's @bloghomework so @rambo and @missy I hope you like my ideas...
This is a tough one because I've reached the age when thoughts like "kids these days..." fill my head but I, like every generation before mine, feel like there are things younger generations just don't get. It's hard to narrow it down to three but I think these are all very important. So... three things everyone should know how to do:
1. Cook
Convenience eating is an epidemic here in the states. We don't savor our food. We don't enjoy it. We eat, we don't dine. One thing I learned from losing nearly 200 pounds is that it's much easier to afford good, healthy food when you aren't spending half your paycheck on junk. You probably don't realize it but when you eat at McDonald's you're paying over $12 a pound for some of the worst excuses for meat there is. For that price you could be eating Filet Mignon with a couple healthy sides. No, we don't eat filet at home but I can produce a decent steak dinner with asparagus and mushrooms for about $4 a plate. The average "value" meal around here is about $8. Value my ass... save what you spend in a week on fast food and see how much money you have to produce better meals. You'll truly be amazed.
2. Write Legibly
I would like to believe that this isn't true everywhere but here in Massachusetts most kids' penmanship ranks somewhere between terrible and unconscionable and the reason for this is simple: they don't teach it in school anymore. I can't help realizing that literacy involves both reading and writing and until very recently both were taught with equal emphasis and importance. These days, people type far more than they write and even my own handwriting has suffered. Want to impress people? Learn how to write legibly. I'm serious. These days good penmanship seems novel.
3. Hold a Real Conversation
We are raising up a generation that regards conversation as something you do with your thumbs. The result is an increasing lack of social skills and an inability to relate to both peers and elders. I know I sound like a crotchety old man right about now but trust me when I say it: having to repeat yourself a dozen times because the person you're talking to cant follow the conversation sucks. That becomes necessary when people's ability to retain verbal information is virtually non-existent because they haven't learned how to actively listen. Think about it: why learn to listen when your idea of a conversation involves text you can simply scroll up and read again? We need to resurrect the long lost art of conversation, put the phones down, look up once in a while, and learn how to relate as human beings again.
I know that last one is a little controversial but I'm far from the only one who feels this way. See?
