# Essential skills our children won't need. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706 "2011-10-25T03:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/41 "2011-10-25T16:42:45Z")
Knowing how many pecks in a bushel. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/42 "2011-10-25T16:47:53Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You don’t have to lick stamps now. They’ve been self-adhesive for years. Just peel one off the backing and stick it on. > [@PunditLisa](#): > > Whooosh! Whooosh? Please enlighten me. I don’t think stamps are going to go away. People will still need to send physical items through the mail. There still will be a Postal Service. Email and electronic documents aren’t going to make that go away. At least not in the near future. Or am I missing something else entirely? ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/43 "2011-10-25T17:20:49Z")
The relevant part was the _licking_ of stamps… as you point out, they are increasingly self-adhesive. Sooner or later, it’s plausible that kids won’t realize that people ever had to lick them to get them to stick. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/44 "2011-10-25T17:26:33Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > Using a typewriter. The feel of cranking the paper onto the roller, using the return lever, making sure you left room at the bottom of the page for footnotes, using White-Out on mistakes. It all seems so prehistoric compared to word processing programs used now. White-Out? Luxury! Does anyone remember the old, pencil-shaped, peel-back typerwriter erasers with the little crumb broom on the end? We had lessons on using those and had to pass a test. You had to remove the ink without tearing the paper, which was hard to do because the erasers had to be hard and abrasive to remove typerwriter ink. You had to keep the crumbs from dropping into the typewriter. And you had to be careful not to shift the paper on the carriage or the typed line wouldn’t line back up for the correcting strike. Oh, and if you were using carbon paper, you had to carefully do each copy without getting carbon on you or sliding the copy pages out of alignment. > [@corkboard](#): > > There are no fireplaces in The Future? Future? Can you say [Developer Air Quality Fees](http://www.cp-dr.com/node/2453)? They’re not illeagal, but in some areas they cost the Developers more than they’d get back from adding them to the house. Also, there are days when you can be [fined for using them](http://www.valleyair.org/burnprograms/wood_burning.htm), unless they’re your sole source of heat. Not that there are fireplace cops roaming the neighborhood. At least around here it’s mostly an educational outreach thing. Looks like other places are more serious about it. Some areas require that any fireplace or wood burning stove be certified as clean burning (like getting your car smogged - except that it usually happens at the factory) with [voucher systems](http://www.airquality.org/woodstove/) for encouraging people to replace older, dirtier burning ones. > [@joebuck20](#): > > Judging by what a lot of people have said on this board, it seems like DIY auto maintenance is becoming something of a lost art. . . . For one, there’s the advent of onboard computers. Back in the old days, engines were simple enough that many laymen could figure out what was wrong if the thing went on the fritz. Nowadays, you need diagnostic equipment to get to the root of many problems. . . I was surprised to learn that some auto parts stores will loan you a hand-held diagnosis computer, at least for some applications. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/45 "2011-10-25T17:37:34Z")
Defeating a girl’s girdle, garter and stockings while stretched out in the car. Balancing a checkbook and reconciling the bank statement. Changing a typewriter ribbon. Knowing how to acquire and hook up an illegal telephone. > [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Splicing film. > Developing film. Loading and unloading a camera… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/46 "2011-10-25T17:38:47Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The relevant part was the _licking_ of stamps… as you point out, they are increasingly self-adhesive. Sooner or later, it’s plausible that kids won’t realize that people ever had to lick them to get them to stick. Well, that was kind of my point. 85% of the stamps sold in the U.S. today are self stick. The OP mentioned future generations. I haven’t licked a stamp in ten years. So, it’s plausible kids today don’t even know you once had to lick stamps, never mind in the future. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/47 "2011-10-25T17:56:42Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The relevant part was the _licking_ of stamps… as you point out, they are increasingly self-adhesive. Sooner or later, it’s plausible that kids won’t realize that people ever had to lick them to get them to stick. No kidding. These days everytime I tell some kid I need them to lick something for me they just run away. Unhelpful little brats. How about how to cook popcorn on a fire or stovetop? Now that takes some skill, less you like smokey tasting popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/48 "2011-10-25T17:56:58Z")
How to dial a rotary phone. Knowing when to dial +1 before the area code on a landline phone. Cursive handwriting. Handwriting, period, for anything besides their own signature (maybe not OUR children, but one day in the not-too-distant future). The cool-factor of a penpal. With the internet, it’s no longer a novelty to interact with kids living halfway around the world. I still remember my penpal, who was a girl from Kansas, and it was really freaking cool to get those letters. Of course, this was before email 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/49 "2011-10-25T17:57:11Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Read an analog clock. Why do people always bring this one up? I see analog clocks all the time. They’re on bell towers, shopping malls and office walls all over the place. I’ve never seen anyone in a tux wearing a digital watch, either. They may not be prevalent, but they’re not as rare as, say, rotary phones. > [@Trom](#): > > I’m in my mid 20’s, and half of the things people have listed _I_ didn’t need growing up. It’s because Dopers are all old. Very, very old. Like…50. Their kids set the SDMB as their homepage, and now they can’t figure out how to leave to “get on the Google”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/50 "2011-10-25T17:57:28Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > The relevant part was the _licking_ of stamps… as you point out, they are increasingly self-adhesive. Sooner or later, it’s plausible that kids won’t realize that people ever had to lick them to get them to stick. Think about it for a minute. The federal government one had a requirement that you had to lick their products. How weird is that? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/51 "2011-10-25T18:06:38Z")
Threading a film reel into a projector. Edging an entire yard with a hand held pair of 6" clippers. Putting new cartridges into an ink pen. Adding water to a car battery. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/52 "2011-10-25T18:12:55Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > White-Out? Luxury! > > Does anyone remember the old, pencil-shaped, peel-back typerwriter erasers with the little crumb broom on the end? We had lessons on using those and had to pass a test. I remember those…the eraser part was shaped like a little wheel, with the tiny brush hooked to the middle. I never had a test on how to use it, though. We also had little paper strips with some white chalky substance on one side. They were about half an inch wide and two inches long. You had to backspace to your mistake, hold the little paper over the wrong letter and re-type the letter. It “typed” over the letter with the white stuff, and then you could go back and re-type the correct letter. > [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Use a bulb from a flash cube and a scavenged magneto to improvise a detonator. What’s a flash cube, Grampa? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/53 "2011-10-25T18:15:44Z")
> [@randomface](#): > > … On a semi-related note, where can you buy strike anywhere matches? > [@silenus](#): > > … Strike anywhere matches are usually available at the grocery store, or at Walmart. [hijack] I’ve learned a lot about matches recently, some of which I will now share with you: [Strike-anywhere matches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matches#The_strike-anywhere_match) are regulated differently in different states and municipalities, because they’re potentially hazardous, officially classified as dangerous goods. They used to occasionally light themselves when jostled just right, which is why many people carried a “[match safe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Match_safe)” (a.k.a. “vesta case” if you’re a Brit). [Safety matches](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matches#The_safety_match) not only won’t light just by rubbing together, they also won’t light on sandpaper or other rough surfaces, because they actually require a chemical in the striker material to work. The chemicals on the match head and in the striker material need to react. Should you be interested in repurposing an old match safe with a textured but not chemical-impregnated striker plate, you might think that you could buy some striker material somewhere to supplement it – and until the last few years, you would have been right. Outdoor equipment sellers and survivalist outfitters carried it and you could order it online as recently as 2009. However, the chemical in that striker stuff – red phosphorus – can be used in certain methods of cooking meth, so the [US DEA got it listed as a drug precursor substance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus#US_DEA_List_I_status), which means it’s tightly regulated, and no one carries plain match striker material anymore. Where I live, all matches are now treated as “paraphernalia” and sold from behind the counter, even in the hardware store. Moral of the story: If you happen to come across a pile of matchbooks with the strikers ripped out, hold your breath, as you’re probably within sniffing distance of a meth operation; and if you want strike-anywhere matches but don’t find them in your local stores, try eBay. [/hijack] Relevant contribution to thread: [ul] [li]coupon clipping[/li][li]appreciation of the gentle humor in [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdZGhVv-h2w)[/li][li]being able to time your bathroom break perfectly with the commercial break on your favorite prime-time show[/li][li]remembering to make sure, before the bank closes, that you have enough cash on hand for your big Friday night date[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/54 "2011-10-25T18:18:24Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > What’s a flash cube, Grampa? It was a little plastic cube that sat on top of a camera. When you took a picture it would flash, and then – get this – rotate! You could take four shots without having to change the bulb! Imagine that! And you only had to wait an hour for the thing to cool down! It was a modern marvel. Right up there with Earth Shoes and TVs shaped like eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/55 "2011-10-25T18:18:28Z")
Tying your shoes. How to use an ice cube tray. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/56 "2011-10-25T18:24:56Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Why do people always bring this one up? I see analog clocks all the time. I was looking at cars in a showroom while my gf was doing paperwork to purchase her Subaru. There was a high end car, filled with leather and beautiful wood trim, and an analog clock. ---
**Author:** ![Sally\_Mander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@Sally\_Mander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sally_Mander)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/57 "2011-10-25T18:39:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It was a little plastic cube that sat on top of a camera. When you took a picture it would flash, and then – get this – rotate! You could take four shots without having to change the bulb! Imagine that! And you only had to wait an hour for the thing to cool down! > > It was a modern marvel. Right up there with Earth Shoes and TVs shaped like eggs. 😃 I loved it when my parents would let me hold the used flash cube after the last flash. It was always nice and warm! I remember having a flash bar (I think that’s what it was called) for a 110-camera. It was like a flash cube, but it was a bar of eight little flash cubes lined up in a row. It had a little piece on each end, which stuck into a divot on the top of the camera, and it stuck up high off the camera. You had to turn it over after four flashes to use the other four. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/58 "2011-10-25T18:40:32Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Why do people always bring this one up? I see analog clocks all the time. They’re on bell towers, shopping malls and office walls all over the place. I’ve never seen anyone in a tux wearing a digital watch, either. They may not be prevalent, but they’re not as rare as, say, rotary phones. That’s true, but I seem to remember a thread in which a lot of people mentioned friends that couldn’t read them. It was pretty recent, I think. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/59 "2011-10-25T18:41:41Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > I remember having a flash bar (I think that’s what it was called) for a 110-camera. It was like a flash cube, but it was a bar of eight little flash cubes lined up in a row. It had a little piece on each end, which stuck into a divot on the top of the camera, and it stuck up high off the camera. You had to turn it over after four flashes to use the other four. I remember those too. They were a vast improvement over the cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/60 "2011-10-25T18:45:18Z")
Manually filling out a credit card slip. (Remember that machine with carbon slips that rolled across your card?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706.md?page=4)