Why is everyone away with the fairies?

Agreed. The effort of sustained concentration is becoming harder.

I honestly think most people have checked out of making an effort in their jobs because they no longer give a fuck about whether or not they're actually being competent. I have noticed similar behaviour to you OP, most recently with a customer return I sent back over a week ago. I emailed in the return number, order number, tracking info etc & explained concisely and clearly that it looked like the courier had collected & lost the return, and got back a reply with completely irrelevant instructions on how to organise a return through their website. It's pure laziness. Or stupidity. It's hard to tell now.

People have always been bad at following instructions and listening / reading what they are supposed to be doing. It's nothing new. In an apocalypse I'm confident I'd get out alive with all the crowds because of be the only one listening to advice. Also you should get a shared family calendar on your phone.

I asked the post office worker 3 times while he was serving me how long goes a special delivery takes. I left post office still not knowing.

No one gives a fucking shit is my reading?

I think many people are busier and more stressed in their work than, say, 30 years ago. And many employers don't value their staff properly so it's just a job and staff are just counting down the hours. We do also have shorter attention spans than previously, apparently - tied in with internet/social media use I think. And people generally aren't terribly good at listening, I've found - but that's nothing new.
I too get frustrated, especially in a work context, but I accept that this is a sign of the times.

I have to agree with you. We live near a university and have to drive past campus. The amount of times young people just step on the road without looking, staring at their phones, listening to music,no clue whatsoever of their surroundings, just walking like zombies. Had I not paid attention I probably would have run over about 3 of them this month only 😄

I agree with you, OP. People just seem to be so disengaged nowadays. The comment about needing an instant google is absolutely right.

When you were at school YOU were expected to remember the things that affected your school life not your parents. You were being trained to be a responsible, independent adult by the age of 18. Children nowadays are still dependent on their parents till their thirties and even older!

I think people are very tired & stressed and this is bound to impact focus. Both women & men are juggling full time work, jobs that used to be 9 til 4 or 5 are now 8 30 to 5.30 or 9-6 and more poorly paid, people are broken.

OP - now you’ve mentioned you have ADHD, it’s pretty common for people with ADHD to talk quite fast, often without being aware they are. Other posters upthread suggested a problem might be that you talk too quickly so you are being misunderstood, hence why you keep getting people giving you the wrong answers, which could be explained by them not hearing properly what you asked.

you seem pretty wedded to the idea the problem is lots of other people aren’t really paying attention to what you are saying, and not in any way that the way you are asking them things (speed, volume, wording of questions) being the problem.

Your not wrong .. irs phones it's been getting worse since 2000. But dramatically worse since 2020.. low level stress and constant information from our phones its causing memory issues. I was reading an article about it today. But yes kids today are increasingly incapable of retaining information. I told my son 3 times what he was having for dinner and still came and asked again while it was cooking.

I couldn’t agree with you more op, I find it incredibly frustrating that so many people are now seemingly unable to digest more than one tiny piece of information at a time, or to refer back to information previously given.
but on the plus side it is so delightful when I do meet someone who is fully ‘with it’ and we can exchange information quickly and seamlessly- they’re rare but they are out there!

MyDP is a bit like this at times. It annoys me. For example he asks me in person about something ive already WhatsApp him about. I won't tell him again, just insisted he goes back and reads messages properly

at least that person is honest. I might not agree, but I respect the laziness when it's owned 😂

People are just lazy.

How can anyone dare saying "but i had THREE emails from the school this week, how can I cope" 😂Meanwhile they perfectly manage 150 threads on MN.

My favourite are the parents on whatsapp groups.
One person: children christmas disco will be between 3 and 4:30.
The VERY NEXT post: what time is the children christmas disco?

Or one parent kindly posting: remember Tuesday is swim day, they need their swimming kit this term
The very next post: Do the children have swimming this term?

Fuck off Malcom, (or Doris) read the fucking posts you lazy idiot. It's literally above yours.

I have ADHD. You'd hate to work with me as i'm VERY "away with the fairies". But yeah if everyone you meet or work with is like this then sorry, its you. I don't know how old you are, but of you're 50+ you probably think stuff like that "didn't exist" in those days 🙄