Silvic
Gold Member
I put this in Rural living as the last thread Today's high school seniors.....ouch. was here and this is along the same lines.
Just had a survey phone call.
Most of the time I just say not interested and hang up but this time my curiosity was piqued and I stayed on the line.
The survey was initially about quality of rivers, streams and lakes and the environment in the Puget Sound area. I live in the Puget Sound area so it was at least regionally correct.
I do not want this to go political which it could so please don't go there.
This is more like the Today's high school seniors.....ouch. thread in which I could not believe the lack of knowledge/education of the individual on the other end of the phone.(the one conducting the survey)
Now I am pretty certain that by law these folks have to be at least 18 (could be wrong) but by voice I would have guessed the young male (I refuse to call him a young man as that implies a level of growth and education that did not exist) was in his mid 20's.
One of my answers was the EPA. He said: "What is the EPA?" My reply the "Environmental Protection Agency" with a up lift of voice inflection to try to indicate my confusion as to why I had to define the EPA in a survey about water quality.
It does not matter what you think about the EPA; good, bad, or indifferent, it is a known acronym especially in the context of a water quality and the environment survey.
Two questions later I said EPA again. His response was: "Now, EPA is what again?"
At that point I said: "Now I don't want to be insulting but is this survey farmed out to someone in another country or are you here in the States?" (he spoke good English)
Response: "I am here in Washington, I live in Seattle."
Me: "And you have not heard of the EPA?"
Response: "Not really"
Me: "OK lets continue with the survey anyway."
I am sorry, as I said; how can anyone not have heard of the EPA. Yes maybe not a roll-off the tip of your tongue familiarity but to stumble twice and and not know of it.
WOW!:confused2: We as a society are done!:shocked::shocked: Put a fork in us. We are beyond the point of no return. When a young male who has supposedly reached adulthood does not even have a passing familiarity with the term EPA and then when defined as the Environmental Protection Agency there is still no recognition we are beyond hope. The education system has failed us and the young of the country.
Where do we go from here? How do we recover? I think we have failed and do not see how a recovery from the decline of knowledge and education can ever be made.
Just had a survey phone call.
Most of the time I just say not interested and hang up but this time my curiosity was piqued and I stayed on the line.
The survey was initially about quality of rivers, streams and lakes and the environment in the Puget Sound area. I live in the Puget Sound area so it was at least regionally correct.
I do not want this to go political which it could so please don't go there.
This is more like the Today's high school seniors.....ouch. thread in which I could not believe the lack of knowledge/education of the individual on the other end of the phone.(the one conducting the survey)
Now I am pretty certain that by law these folks have to be at least 18 (could be wrong) but by voice I would have guessed the young male (I refuse to call him a young man as that implies a level of growth and education that did not exist) was in his mid 20's.
One of my answers was the EPA. He said: "What is the EPA?" My reply the "Environmental Protection Agency" with a up lift of voice inflection to try to indicate my confusion as to why I had to define the EPA in a survey about water quality.
It does not matter what you think about the EPA; good, bad, or indifferent, it is a known acronym especially in the context of a water quality and the environment survey.
Two questions later I said EPA again. His response was: "Now, EPA is what again?"
At that point I said: "Now I don't want to be insulting but is this survey farmed out to someone in another country or are you here in the States?" (he spoke good English)
Response: "I am here in Washington, I live in Seattle."
Me: "And you have not heard of the EPA?"
Response: "Not really"
Me: "OK lets continue with the survey anyway."
I am sorry, as I said; how can anyone not have heard of the EPA. Yes maybe not a roll-off the tip of your tongue familiarity but to stumble twice and and not know of it.
WOW!:confused2: We as a society are done!:shocked::shocked: Put a fork in us. We are beyond the point of no return. When a young male who has supposedly reached adulthood does not even have a passing familiarity with the term EPA and then when defined as the Environmental Protection Agency there is still no recognition we are beyond hope. The education system has failed us and the young of the country.
Where do we go from here? How do we recover? I think we have failed and do not see how a recovery from the decline of knowledge and education can ever be made.
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