Have We Become Spoiled And Entitled As A Society

It appears the gritty old school working class mentality is dying off. We rely too heavily on technology and electronics, we rarely cook meals from scratch anymore, and we are ready to sue someone or a company in a New York minute.

Now does this mean we as a society and people have gotten softer and even spoiled?

Think about it for a minute. We will start with technology. I love my smartphone and laptop. Nevertheless, I no longer have the need for certain things such an alarm clock, map, flashlight, music player or even phone book due to all of the bells and whistles my phone has. Many people can function better without a live human than they can without their cell phones.

Then you have folks wanting to lead a healthier life and think they deserve it just because. Or food is always so readily available thanks to fast food restaurants, frozen dinners, and after hour spots. How many people do you know who actually prepare their meals for the week, or cook more than one meal/everyday? Yep that number is low.

And speaking of restaurants and other retail businesses, we expect the help to cater to our every need and to treat us like we are the only person there. I wrote a piece about proper tipping a while back. Now while I expect to be treated with a certain level of respect, I understand things can and will go wrong. There are certain things I can let go as I pick my battles.

Finally, this is lawn season, one of the many things we don't do for themselves. We expect them to be done for free or cheap. Not many people do for themselves anymore: cut grass, wash their car, or even clean their own home. I understand you may lead a busy lifestyle but so did the generations before us. Many of them didn't even have electricity or indoor plumbing but they made things work, especially marriage.

So does all this make us spoiled? Perhaps a little bit. I believe we are more desynthesized and separated from our roots and history. We all need to pause and reflect on the sacrifices the ones before us had to overcome. It is also very important, especially when calculators have made adults with diplomas, degrees and high paying jobs forget their multiplication tables.

I'm not saying we don't deserve to live abundant lives. However, if we want to prove our worth, we have to put in harder work and not expect an award everytime we do something that we were supposed to do in the first place. Regain your perspective and place in history!

In what ways has your adult life become less complicated than your childhood life? Could you survive for a few weeks without certain luxuries?

Cursive Writing: Going Obsolete As Well?

Who remembers learning cursive writing back in around the 3rd or 4th grade? It was hard at the time, but you felt a sense of pride that you could write even fancier and more proper. Also, you had learned how to sign your signature. It just seemed beneficial to write in cursive.

I was taken aback some when I heard that cursive writing was not being taught in schools that early anymore, if at all. The reasons I have heard why, from educators , range from it is no longer a priority to teach, it is hard to get students into it, and it will soon become obsolete.

Ok now let me get this straight.  Due to technology and even automated signatures, one of the three Rs is being eliminated?  I mean, it seems children are learning how to write the English language, but not properly. It still doesn't seem right or make any sense.

Despite technology making many advances in our daily lives, one should learn basics, such as how to formally write. It goes beyond just being able to make your signature. It is an important part of learning, one that would come in handy at some points. Calculators have already made many folks incapable of doing basic math or following order of operations. Where will our education system go next?

Cursive handwriting should be taught at some point in elementary school. Many children begin school and can read and write well before the age of three. This is also about history and basic skills. We have a skill and an art that can't be lost.

I was watching a movie last night called Idiocracy. Do we want our nation to become a bunch of drones and cater to the lowest common denominator? We have more resources now than ever. There should be more taught and not less.  That is the purpose of progress.

One thing is for sure: my children will learn cursive writing if I find their schools aren't teaching it. I realize my handwriting isn't the best, but it's neater when I write in cursive.

Besides, what else will schools replace? Writing 100 times when they misbehave like Bart Simpson? It's sad, very sad.