there is no hope for the young poeple

[silentC]

I don't know, this spelling Nazi business is verging on political correctness. I don't see anything wrong with expecting better standards to come out of schools than what we see here. I know a lot of it is jargon, fair enough so long as they grow out of it. I don't pick people up on their spelling or grammar (except when I'm being a smart asre) and I'm far from perfect myself but it has to be said that posts like the first one in this thread indicate that things are not improving. My Dad went to a country public school in the late 40's and early 50's. He left at 15 to go to trade school. His spelling is not perfect but he can string a sentence together.

Nobody blames the kids (well I don't). The problem lies within the education system. This cringe away from pointing out people's spelling mistakes etc is not helping anybody.

[BobL]

I get to work with some fabulous very smart young people. One guy has just invented a way of viewing radio space around a pulsar with 100 times greater resolution than has been possible before. To do this he had to organize 3 radio telescopes across the country to collect data at the same time, invent new computational algorithms to analyse the data, and come up with a physically meaningful explanation for what he is looking at. Tell me again how dumb these young people are.

[Andy Mac]

I get to work with some fabulous very smart young people. One guy has just invented a way of viewing radio space around a pulsar with 100 times greater resolution than has been possible before. To do this he had to organize 3 radio telescopes across the country to collect data at the same time, invent new computational algorithms to analyse the data, and come up with a physically meaningful explanation for what he is looking at. Tell me again how dumb these young people are.

So we shouldn't expect to see him at the tool counter in Bunnies?

[Stuart]

IMHO, I don't care if someone is paid $5 or $50 / hr, if you work in a tool shop, why wouldn't you do some more research about what you are selling? Read a box, play with the display items, familiarise yourself with your job, whether the employer provides opportunities or formal training or not, read some books - even Bunnings has one that answers some basic questions.

And for the young among us who can't read or write traditional text anymore:

¡MH0, ¡ þ0n'7 ç@r€ ¡ƒ §0m€0n€ ¡§ p@¡þ $5 0r $50 / hr, ¡ƒ ¥0µ w0rk ¡n @ 700£ §h0p, wh¥ w0µ£þn'7 ¥0µ þ0 §0m€ m0r€ r€§€@rçh @b0µ7 wh@7 ¥0µ @r€ §€££¡n9? R€@þ @ b0x, p£@¥ w¡7h 7h€ þ¡§p£@¥ ¡7€m§, ƒ@m¡£¡@r¡§€ ¥0µr§€£ƒ w¡7h ¥0µr j0b, wh€7h€r 7h€ €mp£0¥€r pr0v¡þ€§ 0pp0r7µn¡7¡€§ 0r ƒ0rm@£ 7r@¡n¡n9 0r n07, r€@þ §0m€ b00k§ - €v€n Bµnn¡n9§ h@§ 0n€ 7h@7 @n§w€r§ §0m€ b@§¡ç qµ€§7¡0n§.

And if you can only read phone speak:

IMHO, I dnt care f sum1 S paid $5 or $50 / hr, f u wrk ina 2l shop, Y? wudnt u do sum mor rsrch bout wotU r selln? Read a bx, play W d display items, familiarise yrslf w/yr job, whether d employer provides opertntys or 4mal trainin or nt, read sum bux - evn Bunnings hs 1 dat ansas sum basic qz.

Simple translations for those who don't like many words:

Get off your bum and do your job.

[Wood Borer]

My interpretation of ALF was quite different to SilentC's.

I read it as a truncation of "half" which lead to me thinking it was a short person.

Remember there was some TV show where the bloke in the pub said he would have alf also? Referring to half a pint I always thought.

BTW Don't start picking on short people either you mongrels

[silentC]

Yeah that was Love Thy Neighbour. I doubt you will ever see that on TV again. That guy, his trick was to always jump into a shout with "I'll 'ave 'arf" because he figured that he wouldn't have to return the shout since he was only having half what everyone else was having.

[pugwash]

My attitude is that if someone doesn't show enough respect to at least try to write in intelligent English (and is too lazy to use a spell checker) then I'm not going to bother replying.

So that's what I'm not doing. ):

[Frank&Earnest]

Gee, where do I start? Quite a few issues here...

Let's start with BobL, so I can't be accused to pick on somebody weaker.

Of course there are many intelligent, able students. These will always succeed, notwithstanding incompetent teachers/lecturers. To keep claiming their successes as successes of the school/university is IMHO indicative of the inability of the education system to criticise and therefore improve itself. Lip service to the concept that the real measure is the achievement of potential is always denied by avoiding like hell any attempt to measure it objectively.

Hi-ho Silver: yes, funny, and broadly true, posterior lead poisoning is the most likely cause, but it is unfair to tar everybody with the same brush. Genuine dislexics do exist, you know?

Pugwash: with your principles, you are not going to be able to talk to too many people... There is a difference between intelligent and intelligible writing, though, and spelling per se is not that essential to comprehension, hence the excuse not to teach it (lest, God forbid, be tainted as spelling nazis!)

Silent C: having had to learn it the hard way and still making mistakes, I am a spelling nazi myself, but that does not mean that I bother correcting posters on a bulletin board... pick on somebody your size, will you?

Jim Carroll : yes, something similar was written in Egypt some 4000 years ago... I like your optimism though: you still hope they learn by the second time!

Wheelinround: can't really disagree with you, except pointing out that you seem to agree a bit too much with Hi ho Silver (see above)... but you are wrong on one count: I am a self confessed spelling nazi and I have done cyphers, read Hansard and learnt shorthand.

barerlz: if you wanted to make the point that even if you can not spell you are not dumb you should have said so. Otherwise some of the people mentioned above might say that you are doing woodwork because you are too dumb to learn to spell.

My apologies to those who posted on previous pages... I am sure I could find something to pick on you also...

Now, a true story at the other end of the spectrum.
After a lifetime of problems with my teeth a few years ago I finally decided to have them all ripped off and a full implant made. The upper denture is held up by clips catching a gold bar fixed to my head with titanium screws.
The denture kept breaking at the fulcrum point created by the bar. I kept telling the dentist that unless the metal structure spanned across the fulcrum the problem would not be solved. He kept telling me that he did not think it could be done. In the end, two years later, he admitted his incompetence and referred me to a specialist.
It took only a quick look for the specialist to say exactly what I said.
Mental note: a BDS from an Australian university is not sufficient to learn Archimede's principle. It is learnt at PhD level.

The young specialist made a good job of it and fitted the new denture. All was fine but it felt a bit wobbly. So the young specialist called in the senior partner saying that he should know, he had 30 years experience. The senior specialist had a look and found that the titanium screws had not been re-tightened enough.
Mental note: to learn to tighten screws in Australia you need a PhD AND 30 years experience.

Now we can move this thread to the jokes section...

[silentC]

So your gums were flapping because you had a screw loose? I might suggest that to some people I know

[m2c1Iw]

Now, a true story at the other hand of the spectrum.

Frank,
Can we move on to the application and accurate use of metaphors now?

[Frank&Earnest]

Frank,
Can we move on to the application and accurate use of metaphors now?

No mixed metaphor, only an example of my already admitted spelling mistakes, in this instance caused by the loose screws due to being an old f-rt. Perfectly on topic.

[nz_carver]

NO im just saying if u are payed to do a job do it
but no young people over here dont know a hard days work if it bit them in the ass!!!!

it gets me as a ex chef from nz i know what bad $$ is i was on less than $14.00 phr
i did my time did my apprenticeship when to hell and back it made me i better person for it all
becose of my helth i have just had to stop and look at life and steep out of a kitchen

now i here young people at franklinds doing nite fill at $19.50 phr
and thay dont even do there job i mean if there not talking texting or being a idiot
there going on about how there job is so hard and the $ is so bad!!!

You open boxs and get payed well to do it its not that hard

or u get the young kids who drop out of school and get center link
(thats the one that gets me!!! i mean we all pay or tax for them to sit on there ass all day and play xbox!!!!

[Wood Borer]

NO im just saying if u are payed to do a job do it
but no young people over here dont know a hard days work if it bit them in the ass!!!!

At first I thought that your severe writing disability was your only disability so I overlooked it and respected and considered your thoughts however you have proved me quite wrong with the above statement.

Play games elsewhere and please seek help for all of your problems before people start taking you seriously and erroneously conclude that Kiwis and young Aussies are lazy uneducated incompetent idiots.

[pugwash]

Pugwash: with your principles, you are not going to be able to talk to too many people... There is a difference between intelligent and intelligible writing, though, and spelling per se is not that essential to comprehension, hence the excuse not to teach it (lest, God forbid, be tainted as spelling nazis!)

F&A.
I actually wanted to write intelligible rather than intelligent, but I couldn't spell it!!

[nz_carver]

im not a kiwi!!!!!