Rear View Camera

[Art Vandelay]

I think we've circled the problem. You don't like it, so anyone who advocates for it is stupid and out of touch. It rhymes with James K's dismissal of rearview cameras.

While I admit that I don't like it, I do wholeheartedly disagree that I'm solely against teaching it for that reason. There are a lot of things that I do like that are antiquated or on the edge of extinction that I accept are gone. It's part of life, we need to be able to adapt and not hold onto things just because it's the way it was when we grew up. Again, why would we waste time teaching something in schools in 2026 that almost 100% of kids will never use?

I was in the express lane of a grocery store earlier. The woman ahead of me paid with cash, and the kid cashier took forever to count out her change.

I paid cash, too. I actually gave the kid exact change, but the change part of it was 96 cents. He had to puzzle over the three quarters, dime, two nickels, and one penny I gave him as well.

Does it matter in our modern, nearly cashless society? I'm sure that depends on who you ask. But I think it's nice to have a concept of what money represents, how much you're spending, and how to track it. Sure, computers will calculate it all for you, but if you can't do math, how do you understand what's happening?

This is definitely not a true comparison to teaching cursive and I'm sure you know that. First of all, counting money is just math, and yes our kids need to learn math, maybe more than ever. Second, there are still plenty of uses for cash even if we are eventually moving to a cashless society. But the point is that cash is something that is actually still used today.

Also I know exactly what you mean about the bewildered look when paying cash. My wife's CC got skimmed at a local gas station a few years ago so now I always pay cash when getting gas since there are a few stations here that will let you pump first and then go inside to pay. A while back I went and the total gas charge at the pump came to $41. So I handed the cashier a $50 and a $1 bill so that he could give me a $10 bill for change instead of $9. He tried to hand the $1 bill back to me and I explained why I gave him $51. He said "but I already entered that you paid $50 into the register". I said well if you add $1 to $9 then it totals $10. He said "I can't do that now". So I gave up and just took the $9 change. The sad part was that it wasn't even a teenage kid, the guy was probably in his 30's.

Now that I'm saying that, I feel like it makes my point more valid. Our schools need more time teaching kids things like math and less time on things they'll never, ever use like cursive.

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[Blue_Max]

This is definitely not a true comparison to teaching cursive and I'm sure you know that.

It wasn't intended to be. But it is a skill that I've witnessed being lost in my lifetime.

Also I know exactly what you mean about the bewildered look when paying cash. My wife's CC got skimmed at a local gas station a few years ago so now I always pay cash when getting gas since there are a few stations here that will let you pump first and then go inside to pay. A while back I went and the total gas charge at the pump came to $41. So I handed the cashier a $50 and a $1 bill so that he could give me a $10 bill for change instead of $9. He tried to hand the $1 bill back to me and I explained why I gave him $51. He said "but I already entered that you paid $50 into the register". I said well if you add $1 to $9 then it totals $10. He said "I can't do that now". So I gave up and just took the $9 change. The sad part was that it wasn't even a teenage kid, the guy was probably in his 30's.

Any "extra" money always confuses the hell out of them. And if your change is forty-something cents, the only way they know to count it is with four dimes and then some pennies or whatever. The quarter-dime-nickel combination never occurs to them.

Now that I'm saying that, I feel like it makes my point more valid. Our schools need more time teaching kids things like math and less time on things they'll never, ever use like cursive.

Whether you accept it or like it or not, learning to write cursive assists in learning to read and learning to spell. Physically shaping words with your hand requires you to think in a different way than hitting a button on a keyboard or touchscreen does.