While there Benjamin noticed my pocket watch and was curious about it, I let him see it and told him what time it was, so after this a few times each day he would come to me, point and say “Papa-time”, I would pull out my watch and let him look, I always told him the time and he would repeat it, most times he would look at Cindy and say something like “Mimi-four forty six”
And another thing, in our digital world have you noticed no one counts back change, I remember when I was younger you always had your change counted back, say you bought something that cost $25.55, you pay with two twenties and you then hear, 25.55, 65, 75, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and ten makes forty as they hand you back your change.
Now days you make the same purchase and the clerk rings it up takes your two twenties and says, Thank you here is your change, or if your are lucky they say 14.45 is your change, but rarely does anyone count back change, I asked a young lady why she didn’t count back my change, and with a puzzled look she pointed at the screen and said, the computer tells me how much to give you back.
The more I tried to explain counting change to her the less she seemed to understand, I am glad I didn’t give her forty dollars and a nickel so I would get back 14.50, I actually did that once and almost had the kid quit because he didn’t know how to punch it in, or what to do with the nickel.
I stopped at the Toot and Scoot and bought myself a Coke, it rang up 1.25 so I gave the kid two dollars, he gave me back eleven dollars and forty three cents, I told him you only owe me seventy five cents, he looked at the screen and said I see my mistake and gave me another penny.
I pushed the change back to him, and said seventy five cents, look at your screen and count it back, he grinned and said, I don’t know what’s wrong with me, It says 11.45 now and pushed another penny my way, scratching my head I asked him what time it was, he looked at the screen and said, “Oh man I have been looking at the clock”
The Toot and Scoot incident is a scenario I can see happening if we don’t teach our kids to be more reliant on their brains rather than allowing a computer to completely do their thinking.
Telling time on a clock with hands and counting back change is two things I believe we need to teach our kids and grandkids, or else our time and change just may get all mixed up. I really don’t know if I can get myself accustomed to eating lunch at a little after seventy-five cents.
Counting back change is a BIG thing around this house and the grands have a ball with it! (register and all) We've let the "learning to tell time" thing, slide. I just don't spend enough time with them anymore.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is robbing the younger generation of so many things, including verbal communication and handwriting.
Amen Ms. A, Technology is a good thing as long as we don't become completely reliant on it, and I am afraid our younger generation is almost there.
DeleteI'm proud to hear your grands are having a ball learning.
Potty training our son was easier than teaching him how to tell time on an analog clock.
ReplyDeleteHey Stephen, Sometimes they give us a hard time with both, but in the end they all learn when it's time to go :^)
DeleteI know someone whose teenage son needed to mail something of importance. She gave him an envelope and a stamp. He seemed quite puzzled, not knowing how to address the envelope or where the return address and stamp were supposed to go. I thought she was making this up....sadly she was not.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, This doesn't surprise me at all, there are a lot of people who never learned to do simple tasks such as this, sometimes I think we made it too easy on the kids by doing things for them rather than showing them how to do it.
DeleteLove that final sentence, Jimmy. Made me smile. You know, I had forgotten that change used to be counted out; with me not being a maths person it helped me tremendously. I hope we never go completely digital, I so like to see a clock dial on my wrist.
ReplyDeleteHi Valerie, Like you I hope we never go completely digital, I like my change being counted back and looking at the hands on a clock, but life goes on and changes are made in spite of how we feel.
DeleteI still don't want to eat at seventy five cents no matter how digital the world becomes Ha Ha
Benjamin is too adorable! I love pocket watches. I can see why he was impressed with it. I hardly ever use cash anymore. Thy is probably why I don't hear them count change. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank You Angelia, He is something else, good point on using cash, very few actually use it now, much easier to slide a debit card and not worry about change.
Delete"Thank you here is your change, or if your are lucky they say 14.45 is your change, but rarely does anyone count back change..."
ReplyDeleteAmen! They usually just shove the change into my hand without EVER counting it back and also, without EVER saying "Thank you."
It's funny because when I was a kid and learning to tell time, I would say, "The big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. HA!
Welcome home, buddy! Glad to see you back!
Hey Ron, Good to be back my Friend, I remember learning to tell time the same way Ha Ha if I have my way Benjamin will learn the same way also.
DeleteI learned to tell time that way too, and I still can't get the hang of digital timing, so it has to be analogue for me too. If you say it's 14:35 I look at you as if you were strange!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but notice that it was almost 5 o' clock, and remembered the Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffet song "It's Five O'clock Somewhere"!
Hi Megan, I didn't think about the 24 hr or military time format, we are using the 12 hr format here so if you say it's 14:35 I give that strange look also :^0
DeleteI always liked the Jackson/Buffet song also as both are excellent performers.
When my oldest son was little, I would ask him what time it was and he would run all the way down the hall into the kitchen and then tell me. I finally asked him why he did this instead of looking at the living room clock. He told me that he ran into the kitchen to look at the clock on the microwave (the one in the living room was an analog wall clock). That's what made me realize that to him it made a difference. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHe is 33 now and does know how to tell time both ways. :-)
The brilliance of kids cannot be denied, I can just see him running to look at the microwave :^) at that age I can see how it would make a difference, what is sad is the adults that can't read an analog clock.
DeleteI'm proud to see your son can use both.
Great post! And you're right, kids today can't do elementary tasks. If their computers ever failed, most kids today couldn't blow their nose. But really, is that the kids fault or the parents fault?
ReplyDeleteS
Amen, I agree with you 100% the majority of the problems today falls right into the laps of the parents, we have made it too easy for our kids at times and by not teaching them to think for themselves, brings us right to where we have placed them.
DeleteGood to see you my Friend
Spot on post and comments! Remember how as kids, we all jumped when the phone rang, ran to answer it, hoping it was for us? My kids ignore our home phone. They know it's never for them, because they only get texts on their cells, so they are too damn lazy to answer the home phone. Dives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteYes Bijoux, I remember running and fighting with my siblings to see who could get to the phone first, you are so right on the texting, I rarely see any of them even raise their heads much less stop moving their thumbs, I don't text myself, I really see no need for it but yet that is Just My Opinion :^)
DeleteJust yesterday, Joe and I had lunch and the bill was $22.50. The girl rang it up and said "That'll be $2.50"
ReplyDeleteJoe kept correcting her until he gave up and handed her $22.50. She just popped it into the register.
Joe stopped the equally young manager and told him what had happened, then added: "For correcting her and keeping her register balanced, I expected a 'thank you' instead of a haughty 'sniff'"
The equally young manager merely said "Thanks".
And they're not even taught how to cross a street.
Reminds me of the waitress we had who Cindy calculated should get an $8.00 tip, when she added it to our bank card she punched in 800, Cindy stopped her saying You are not getting an 800 dollar tip, the girl replied, I know--that's why I only punched in two zeroes.
DeleteGo figure--huh