Basic things younger people don't know.

We had our “second” family quite old (I had three further children at 39, 42 & 44) so we still have young adult children (20, 22 & 25) living at home as well as older children in late thirties living on their own. All know how to hold a pen and eat properly, some of them choose their own way write/eat. They’ve all heard of WW1 & WW2, none think cheese comes from a cheese plant and they all seem to know a whole host of things of which I’ve never hear !! So just not sure I agree with OP’s post

At Teacher traning college the ethos we were given was that we teach children how to learn, not necessarily the subject.

When my youngest daughter first started driving, she rang me at work one day and said "mum", "a long tube-y thing has fallen off the bottom of the car"!
When I first had a car it was an old banger and used to break down a lot so I learned basic car stuff but these days their first cars are much newer and probably much safer (thank goodness!)

Redhead56

They don’t seem to realise leaving the lights on costs money and just switching them off saves money.

That was my dad’s old complaint! He used to follow us round turning them off!

Absolutely agree Shelflife but I do think it matters. Some people’s table manners leave a lot to be desired and I shudder inside everytime I see people using their forks like shovels instead of using both knife and fork. I think it’s an American influence as that seems to be the standard way of eating in America. A few years ago we had dinner in a restaurant on Beale St in Memphis and as we got up to leave another couple came up to us at the door and started chatting to us. They were from England, and said ‘we knew you were British’. When I asked how they knew that they said ‘because you were using your knife and fork properly!’ I think that’s my rant over for today but I’ve always believed if you have good table manners and know what cutlery to use and how, you’ll never feel out of place no matter how posh the restaurant.

My experience of life way back consisted of trial and error. A beautiful angora jersey reduced to doll size through being washed thoroughly and vigorously in my Hoover washing machine, and again thoroughly spun dried in my NEW Spinner rinse, thoughtfully given to me by my lovely mother. Didn't do that again! Another disaster was a blouse melted by a very hot iron, my sons terry towelling nappies turned bright yellow by the addition of a yellow duster! (put in by mistake) he had to wear them as they were expensive to buy, and so it went on until I finally got more eefficient and careful! We all live in the countryside so family young and old are pretty au fait with everyday practicalities. On the domestic front certainly more than I was.

I am never bothered by what people do not know, especially younger people, what bothers me is the incapacity of people of all ages to find things out for themselves, even in these days of the internet google and YouTube.

My wholecareer was based on finding things out and I am often pasting on GN quite easily accesssible and findable links to everyday information.

No one knows about anything, until they do know. That applies to all of us.

I'm not going to sneer at people, young or old, who don't know what I know. Because they know things I don't.

The only thing that causes consternation for me is when anyone declares that they "don't understand" politics or how the economy is run.

You must. It governs your life and your future.

I gave up Geography in favour of History when I was 15. As a result, I was very good at dates but my map reading skills were,at best, sketchy. When I was a young teacher, I assisted in the school's Guide company. I was horrified when the Captain sent me into another room to teach a group map-reading. I only got round that by saying to the girls, 'Now, tell me what you already know'. They did! My DGD, as an Army Cadet, was more than able to instruct the recruits in map reading.
Sadly, sat-navs have made this skill almost obsolete.

I'm uncomfortable with any thread which relies on generalisation and, without meaning to I'm sure, sets up one group against another. My children didn't know what vinyl records were as all they had known was compact discs. They wouldn't know how to change a fuse in a plug but could YouTube how to do it. As could I. I think the OP meant the thread to be fairly light-hearted but some of the responses are not.

Map reading is still taught, in KS2 and, as NotSpaghetti said, for GCSE. The problem of “if you don’t use it you lose it” is probably why few younger people remember.

My washing machine fused the power in the kitchen , I couldn’t do a thing about it , but my 19 yr old grandson explained about the “ trip “ ! I didn’t even know where or what that was , he walked straight to the fuse box and reset the trip switch , I was full of admiration !
I did get a new washing machine
Thinking about it later , I do remember turning off the power and pulling out a fuse and searching for the wee card with different grades of fuse wire , ?

Watermeadow
I know an awful lot of old people who don’t know places are and they are double stuffed because they won’t embrace the technology to get them there.

Well, my 15 year old grand daughter is an excellent cook, can make her own clothes, even has her own sewing machine. She has redecorated her bedroom and recycled second hand furniture and is generally following in the steps of her aunt, grandfather and great aunt, in being able to turn her hand to almost anything.

I do all the scout/cubs badge sewing on as apparently my DDs do not have these skills.

However ........ one day when I was sewing on a badge for my GS I happened to notice that it was the Sewing Badge ... hmmmm.....

Galaxy

You can get badge glue for scouts badges nandad. It's on Amazon. It's not perfect but perfect if you are lazy like me

I am so bad at sewing that I would sew the badge on and it would somehow turn so it would be at a strange angle, I would then unpick it and start again. DS scout jumper and blanket is also in the loft, I guess it will give him something to laugh at when he shows his own children one day!

Ha I never faced that issue I only had one who liked the scouts. I have kept them all in the loft badges still on

How can you pass the shirt/sweater to the next sibling if you can't unpick the badges???
?

You can get badge glue for scouts badges nandad. It's on Amazon. It's not perfect but perfect if you are lazy like me

Nanda - map reading is still taught. My grandson has it in his GCSE syllabus (Geography I assume).
I know this as he really struggles with it as he's colour-blind. Even in the exam there is no help (not even to tell him what colour a road is or the shading colour for example).

There is no help for colour-blind students as it's not a protected characteristic.

Galaxy

I can thread a needle and sew. Its has been of no use to me. The last time I sewed anything was younger sons scouts badges. And I could have used badge glue. Having some IT skills has been much more useful in my life.

What do you mean badge glue? I wish I knew about that.

I can thread a needle and sew. Its has been of no use to me. The last time I sewed anything was younger sons scouts badges. And I could have used badge glue. Having some IT skills has been much more useful in my life.

Davida1968

I wonder how young people have a clue about how to use (paper) maps. They just use their phones. What would they do in a crisis, without Internet access?

They learn how to use paper maps in the scouts or when they do the D of E award. My son is the person I would much rather get lost with as his dad and I are useless at reading maps, including google maps!

We knew a very bright person who went to Oxford. At the end, of term landing back with all their things. Their mother asked where the towels and bedding were the reply was"Oh do you wash them".
We all had a good laugh then I remembered when I was a student we had to show the lads how to use a washing machine and sort clothes out.
I should not have laughed when we took DD to uni there was an old twin tub, she didn't have a clue what it was or how to use it.
Appliances and technology move on we all have to learn.
As for young medics, does anyone know what a twisted pudding is? I know one who was given this as a symptom by an elderly gentleman. Some use belly for stomach others use it for their guts, they just have to ask someone who does know.

volver's point is interesting. I was thinking about this recently. As a ward volunteer on a care of the elderly ward I find that I have some of the same memories and life experiences as the people I chat to. Other volunteers are often youngsters trying to demonstrate volunteering for job/course applications. At times they have no idea what a patient is talking about and I've seen them referred to as having dementia or other reasons for saying what are, to those volunteers, incomprehensible. I find myself translating to those volunteers or explaining what has been said to them. Examples include WW2 evacuation, old local shops, old film references, Scottish words etc etc.
It worries me that younger doctors and psychologists might also be misconstruing what patients are talking about.