It's come to this...

[Boden]

[Lp1331 1p1331]

We have had those wheel/tire rentals here (San Antonio) for probably at least 15 years. The OP as I recall is in Houston, so I can't beleve they are anything new there. Besides the utter stupidity of the deal, if I ever bought a vehicle with those ugly pieces of crap, I'd have them off of it so fast it would make a Nascar pit crew look like slow motion. A few years ago the owner of a fair sized strip center in an older/poorer section of town had us service all the furnaces. They were all regular residential type furnaces, upflow in closets, so I was inside each business. One was a furniture/appliance rental place that had two suites. I had never actually been inside one before-- it was mind boggling. In the furniture section they had lamps-- just plain ordinary table lamps-- for $2.00/month. I have seen nicer ones at yard sales for that much or less. For that matter I've even seen them at the curb for the trash pickup. There is not just one simple cause for this type of thing. With some it is just plain stupidity. There are a lot of HS grads that couldn't tell you what 10% of 100 is without a calculator, and probably about as many that couldn't WITH a calculator. The worse thing is that a lot are second or third generation stupid. Kids follow examples and if the parents have absolutely no sense with money, it's pretty likely the kids will be the same. The other thing is that they want everything right now, and think they have some God given right to have it. The idea of saving up for something is totally foreign to them. AEM is right on point about requiring basic everyday skills being taught, and learned, in HS. Most, but certainly not all boys know the basics about car upkeep and such, but everyone should also have to know basics of food preparation, including buying and storage of foods as well as just cooking., and also how to do basic laundry using a standard W &D. I gotta give them credit for one thing tho-- you'd be hard pressed to find one out of a hundred that doesn't know every single function and feature of their cell phone. Got plenty more to rant about, but will save it for another time. Larry

[Pete C.]

Amazing/sickening...

That last part is a big one, and it's effects are seen very widely, not just poor and minority, but middle and upper class levels as well. All end up spoiled, be it by welfare or by parents stroking their own egos buying the kids ridiculous stuff.

Perhaps in Texas, but certainly not in a lot of places. A friend of mine is a science teacher at a "magnet" school that supposedly gets the "gifted" kids. The horror stories he's told about these "gifted" students who have no idea how to use a socket set, or worse yet, have no idea how to use a ruler! I mean, come on, didn't you learn how to use a ruler in elementary school or earlier???

Absolutely, no discrimination or sexism, everyone needs to get the full spectrum from Baking to Welding, Woodworking to Sewing.

[Andy Asberry]

e.

Girl in front of me at the PO asks the clerk if they have 1 cent stamps. She says yes, how many do you need. Ten. We only have nine. OK, I'll take nine. How much do I owe you? Place went silent to see if the clerk could hold her composure. The only thing that would have made it better was the clerk using the calculator.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Don't keep us in suspense, how much did she owe?

[curly'q]

They're everybody's favorite prey.

Most females get NO training in house and car repairs growing

[Kyle]

That's because there's a huge cultural perspective difference between those in poverty and those who aren't. When you are stuck in poverty (often for generations in the U.S., where the adults today grew up in poverty, as did their parents, and grandparents) you don't believe you're ever going to be able to get out - you're going to be stuck in a crummy low-paying job and never going to get a job that pays a living wage, never going to be able to get out of where you are so you live for the moment, buying the big screen tee-vee and the satellite service and the bling-bling for the 1972 Datsun beater and the like.

That's why I'm such an advocate of Habitat For Humanity: because they help families in poverty see a way out, not just by helping them get an affordable home of their own but also in teaching them basic life skills like budgeting and financial planning. But most importantly they give a family a sense of hope, a belief that there IS a way out, and then they start looking at life and the world differently, start thinking about saving for a future they believe could come. I know from experience, having worked for H4H in seminary, and my wife is Dir. of Development for our local affiliate.

So this holiday season, instead of giving yet another bland sweater to Aunt Mary or yet another variation of Zelda to your nephew for his Nintendo DS, make a donation to your local Habitat affiliate in the name of family members, and change some lives.

[HeyBub]

I totally agree. There were those who were displaced from New Orleans because of Katrina and found themselves in places like Salt Lake City or Billings, Montana - a completely different culture. Some even said: "You mean all I got to do is stand behind the counter and make Slurpees? And I get PAID for it? Damn, man, that's cool!"

Presto! The cycle is broken!

[Paul Oman]

------------------ It is even more basic..... No respect or interest in education. You can offer all the classes you want, and GED requirements, but too many folks don't value, or see a need for education. School is just a place to dump the kids when they are young, and a social hangout when they are older. It is families that value education, demand learning from their kids, make sure their kids struggle with homework and school projects, that pull ahead. Why go to school when the government will pay you to stay at home and have babies? - paul

[Andy Asberry]

tap, tap, tap, kaching! 9 cents??

[SteveB]

Sorry, the kaching! was your time expiring. Please try again later.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Ah, you must have one of those calculator things.

[HeyBub]

I love clerk stories! Here's one:

During the 1st week of the 1st Gulf War I'm in the grocery check-out.

Ding-Ding! Female Clerk: "Congratulations sir, you've won a loaf of Randall's famous French Bread!" Me: "I don't like the French. Can I have a loaf of pita bread?" Clerk: "Uh, no. We only have French." Me: "San Francisco sourdough? Mexican cornbread?" Clerk: "Just the French..." Me: "Anyone in line want a free loaf of perfidious French bread?" (one hand goes half-way up) Me: "Give it to the fellow in the orange shirt. Clerk: "(fluster, fluster) Ah, will that be paper or plastic?" Me: "I don't care. I'm bisacksual." (Clerk runs away)

[Red Green]

"SteveB" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Well, it makes perfect sense if she had one seen someone putting in transmission fluid.