Just Popping In. . . .

People are fascinating. My man paraphrases the well-known saying as "It doesn't take all kinds, but there certainly are all kinds!" Friday I encountered several of these.

Ran into a local store to grab a couple of things. The cashier, who is at least as old as I am and has worked there for quite some time, rang up my items and said "That will be $17.76" I laughed and commented, "That's an appropriate total for July 3!" She didn't say anything for a moment as she took my money and then said "Oh, is that the date of independence of something? I don't even know." I almost fell over. Especially because of her age. I figured that anyone who was at least 10 years old in 1976 when the US celebrated its Bicentennial would forever remember the date 1776, even if they didn't remember it from school.

Later that day, I took my boy to take his test for his driving permit. There were quite a few people there, as usual, and as we took our seat with our number, #54, he glanced up at the electronic display showing the number currently being helped, #31, he sighed and said "This is going to take forever. Later as the man sitting in front of us was waiting for his teenage daughter to finish up at the counter after her test, we chatted a few minutes. He and his family are from India, and as they were about to leave he commented "This wasn't too bad. It only took about an hour." After they left, I pointed out to my boy the difference perspective makes: we are so impatient as Americans, but in most other countries of the world, getting any sort of license or permit takes hours and hours, if not days.

Speaking of the driving permit, are your schools as lax about teaching cursive as ours are? They briefly teach it in third grade, but it isn't emphasized and kids aren't required to use it. I have taught my kids that "signing your name" means writing it in cursive. When he signed his name the first time for the worker at the license office, she commented that he was the first student she had ever seen actually sign his full name in cursive. "Probably the last 100 kids I've processed, when I tell them to sign their name, they print it -- and usually just their first name." Heaven help our society that is so focused on standardized tests that we aren't teaching kids basic life skills.

Blogging may be sorta spotty over the next few days - I drove 7 hours yesterday to bring my girl to an orchestra camp clear across the state. We're staying with my brother and SIL, and internet use isn't quite as accessible. Plus last night they taught us to play a fun new game, Marbles and Jokers, and it is a tad addicting!

But I have preposted a giveaway for Monday! So be sure to watch for that!