# People who haven't learned a common skill **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 11, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150 "2011-06-11T20:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/81 "2011-06-12T22:50:08Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Working at the library I am shocked by these on a regular basis. People have not the first clue how to make copies. Copies! I mean, our copier is confusing, yes, but who doesn’t know your original goes FACE DOWN? Seriously? > > Also, tons and TONS of people are evidently terrified of escalators, but will not take the damned elevator. What’s up with that? > > What’s so complicated about the Dewey Decimal system? Once you have the number, I don’t see what’s hard about finding the book. 2 comes after 1, people. 1.2 is after 1.01. Just like in real life, believe it or not. > > **I once had to sit down and show a girl how to write a check. I’ve had to do that with immigrants once or twice before, but this was a college freshman who was born and raised in this country and she had no idea how to go about this very ordinary task. I don’t get how nobody ever did it in front of her when she was paying attention in her whole life.** > > My mom has friends who very bitterly eventually learned how to pump their own gas when the very last full service stations disappeared. I don’t know how you can respect yourself in the morning if you drive a car but don’t know how to put gas in it. They very proudly do not know how to change a tire, either, but they don’t have AAA. “Someone will come!” > > Personally, I had to be shown how to mop when I got my first retail job. We didn’t have floors we mopped as a child. I was once a member of an organization. This organiziation refuses to take payment that isn’t in the form of money order or check. One of the join memeber asked to see my check. :eek: I asked why. She told me she didn’t know how to write one. So, I helped her. To be fair, for anyone younger than say 30, I don’t think writing checks is a part of daily life or has ever been. So many things can be paid online. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/82 "2011-06-12T22:51:32Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m an American and I don’t think it’s unusual for colleges/universities in the US to have pubs. What may be unusual is for them to be _called_ pubs. In my experience they’re more often called Rat(h)skellers, oftened shortened to just “The Rat” or “The Skeller”. Yeah, my college had a Rathskeller. They served alcohol only to those 21 or over, but there were a lot of older students there. ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/83 "2011-06-12T22:52:49Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Do you _grow_ your own food? If not, then you are dependent on other members of society to do it for you. Certainly, most of us are. > I find your comparison way over the top. There are many foods requiring little or no cooking, which would still form a complete and healthy diet. Fruits, vegetables, rice, nuts, beans, etc. You might get _bored_ with such a diet, to be sure, but that’s a different issue. You will still be recognizably human. > > Put it this way. Of all the skills mentioned so far in this thread, I’d rather live with somebody who can’t cook but knows basic house cleaning, rather than vice-versa. This has nothing to do with the thread, but if someone has poor cleaning habbits (their house or their body), I refuse to eat any food they’ve cooked or prepapred. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/84 "2011-06-12T23:09:10Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > This has nothing to do with the thread, but if someone has poor cleaning habbits (their house or their body), I refuse to eat any food they’ve cooked or prepapred. OT continued: so no restaurants for you, ever? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/85 "2011-06-12T23:11:22Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > OT continued: so no restaurants for you, ever? 😉 lol Someone that I know. If I ever a resturant is dirty or something not right, I don’t eat there. Another topic, but I’ve walked out of salons my friends regularly go to because they’re filthy. Then, they get nail/foot fungus and wonder why. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/86 "2011-06-13T00:24:53Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Can y’all fry an egg? Because, after a lifetime of trying, I just learned how, successfully, picture-perfect! - a few months ago. Yes, but I always burst the yoke, and pretend that I don’t like eggs over easy…:smack: OH! I also can’t tie a tie. I’ve tried to learn since high school, to no avail. My mum bought me some paisley ties as a graduation present from a posh clothing store, and they’re just…sitting in that box…mocking me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/87 "2011-06-13T00:29:30Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > What’s so complicated about the Dewey Decimal system? Once you have the number, I don’t see what’s hard about finding the book. 2 comes after 1, people. 1.2 is after 1.01. Just like in real life, believe it or not. Except when I goto university, and ML55.61 is nowhere NEAR ML55.611, and I felt like Dewey done let me down, lol… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/88 "2011-06-13T03:29:25Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Can’t snap my fingers. Ah yes, there’s another one I can’t do. It’s seems physically impossible for me, because people have tried showing me, and I make the moves, but no sound. I’ve read it may have something to do with oily skin, or dry skin or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/89 "2011-06-13T05:12:10Z")
> [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > When the boss lady asked me, “do you know how to mop?” she gave me the most grateful and amazed look when I said “uh, yeah. It’s a mop.” I still wonder how many people she’s had to teach this to. > [@chizzuk](#): > > I had a friend in college who could not … use a mop. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Personally, I had to be shown how to mop when I got my first retail job. We didn’t have floors we mopped as a child. Now I’m wondering if I’ve been doing it wrong. What’s to know? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/90 "2011-06-13T06:02:55Z")
It’s like I’m living on a different planet. When I was young parents taught their kids basic life skills like how to budget money, cook, and fix stuff. I had to pay for my car and fix it (or go without) which meant buying a manual and figuring it out. I knew how to ride a bike at age 4, swim at age 7, and drive a stick by age 15. My dad taught me how to negotiate a car purchase as a teenager and also how to establish credit. By the time I left home I could rebuild a car engine or build a house. I never thought of “the greatest generation” as being particularly special, just normal folks who were relatively self sufficient. It sure doesn’t seem like skills are getting passed down. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/91 "2011-06-13T06:40:47Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I can’t swim underwater without holding my nose. > > I’m always amazed at people who can’t read maps. What’s the problem? You see where you are, and you see where you want to go, and you look for the squiggly line that connects the two. Problem solved! I was amazed to discover that a lot of people need the map to be oriented the same as reality. So when you make a left turn, you have to turn the map 90 degrees. It would never occur to me to do such a thing . . . or need to. Another thing: A friend of mine worked in a mail-order company, and there were customers who mailed in their actual credit cards with their order! And then there are people who don’t know the 2-letter abbreviation for their own state. I can understand someone else getting AR, AL and AK confused, but not the people who actually live there. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/92 "2011-06-13T07:22:35Z")
I also can’t drive or swim. I can do most of the other things listed here, though, if not very competently. One thing I wish I could do, that isn’t very common but is a skill that amazes me, is the way some people can roll a thread into a seemingly randomized ball between two fingers, but are actually tying it into a knot. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/93 "2011-06-13T07:46:33Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > One thing I wish I could do, that isn’t very common but is a skill that amazes me, is the way some people can roll a thread into a seemingly randomized ball between two fingers, but are actually tying it into a knot. ! Can you find a video or picture of what you mean? I tie knots in sewing thread by wetting my index finger, wrapping the end of the thread around the finger and using my thumb to roll the thread off my finger and into a knot. If that’s what you’re referring to, it just takes practice. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/94 "2011-06-13T08:55:45Z")
Maybe. I dunno what they’re doing, all I see is thread, finger rub, then knot. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/95 "2011-06-13T09:01:12Z")
It’s really weird, and I don’t know how it works but somehow rolling the thread off your wet finger makes it knot, hand to god. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/96 "2011-06-13T09:52:10Z")
> [@YaraMateo](#): > > All food perparing is dependent on someone else. For example, do you know to turn a cow into a steak? Or gut a fish? If you don’t you’re dependent on someone else. Do you grow all of the vegatable you eat? I suppose if you buy those things from the market, that’s somehow more independent. It never really occurred to me how much basic training I got by being a Girl Scout, having family who hunted and fished, and who had a big garden in the back yard growing up. I may not grow my own veg or eat meat these days, but I certainly know how to do all these things if I needed to. Including making the fire to cook them. I do think these things are basic skills, that I guess I assume everybody knows until they tell me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/97 "2011-06-13T11:43:16Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Well, if you’re not near a natural body of water, it’s gonna cost money to go swimming. I grew up in the US and moved to a new state every few years. Every school I ever attended had a pool with weekly swimming classes. (Actually, I take that back, one school didn’t have a pool; however, we were all bussed once a week to another school that did.) High school and college both required students to pass a swim test for graduation. I assumed this was pretty common but I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/98 "2011-06-13T12:50:15Z")
I can barely stay on a bike. Never learnt as a kid, as we lived in the middle of nowhere, next to a busy road, and my brother had a few too many close calls on it so my parents decided not to get me a bike unless I really pushed for one. Which I didn’t. I learnt to drive (a stick shift 😉 ) and bought a car as soon as I could instead. My housemate cannot operate a cigarette lighter- though neither of us smoke, we have a lot of candles around the house, and I bought some lighters to make sure there was one handy for each ‘candle station’. I’ve shown her how to do it many times, but no… ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/99 "2011-06-13T13:09:46Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I never thought of “the greatest generation” as being particularly special, just normal folks who were relatively self sufficient. It sure doesn’t seem like skills are getting passed down. I doubt it’s generational. This thread wouldn’t be interesting if the lack of these skills wasn’t rare. I’m Gen X and of my circle of friends few of them lacked even one of the life skills mentioned in this thread. My kids are Gen QQ but I’ve taught them everything you mentioned (and how to write cursive when the schools stopped doing it to tie in with another thread). Well, they’re too young to negotiate for a car but the oldest, who is 11, is learning to fly a plane so I think that makes up for it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150/100 "2011-06-13T13:12:23Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I think stick shifts are still around in rural areas. Could you imagine what a pain it’d be to drive one in Pittsburgh or San Francisco (Both cities are basically one big hill) It’s really not a big deal once you get used to it. Think about how many Jeeps and what not that go out 4 wheeling/off road that are manuals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-learned-a-common-skill/585150.md?page=6)