To be surprised that my 15yo son didn’t know the difference between a comb and a brush?

[PlopTeeth]

Just that really. I asked him to fetch the comb from the bathroom and he asked which one that was. I suppose that I assumed that by 15 he would know the difference and now I’m wondering what other basics we have failed to teach him. 😂

So, what lack of knowledge, either in someone else or yourself, have you been surprised by? (Lighthearted 😉)

Why is it ‘generational snobbery’ this is her son (a younger generation, now) and I’m sure none of us just automatically knew to dial a particular umber to get an outside like when we started work.

DD, then 18, asked how to operate a mop. Some of the older residents on here might remember it.

Yes - I think I saw one in a museum once... actually I go the the science museum and play ‘spot the things we had at home’ with my sister in the ‘low tech’ display.

Why is it ‘generational snobbery’

Because it’s making an (incorrect) assumption that he’s only incapable of doing / understanding something due to his age. No different than if he was to blame boomers on not understanding tech.

It was a fact that he didn’t know because phones don’t generally work like that. If no one told you how could you know?

Like my son with a cassette recorder or an LP, or the fact that bagged salads are relatively new. Or me with the washboard and ringer that my grandmother would have used.

I agree with both those points @lordfrontpaw, but that poster is blaming his age. I don’t think you read my post properly...

18 year old DD, who is generally quite bright was watching me cook bacon last night and said “what part of the cow is that”

It was the ‘generational snobbery’ phrase I thought wasn’t very nice! And you said that you knew because your old place had it - the fact is, the older you are/more jobs you’ve had then the more likely you will be to have come across this. My son will know this because he used to come and play in my old office where they had this system - if he hadn’t he wouldn’t know at all because it’s not something they see on tv or in films.

I probably aren’t read things thoroughly today - I’ve got a migraine hangover (hangover from a migraine, not a mortgage from drinking) today so my eyes are going bonkers (I know I shouldn’t read a screen but I need the distraction).

Right. So that poster had generational snobbery about her son - blaming him for not knowing because he is “the digital generation”. And I was saying that type of generational snobbery is not nice.

Generation x, generation Z, GI, millennials, digital generation, baby boomers - it’s all shorthand. You should hear what the whippersnappers call me at work (cheeky wee things).

I'm more shocked that Kids can't tell the time on a normal clock.

amusedbush

When DH and I were in Paris he pointed out the memorial for the Unknown Soldier. I asked why they couldn't now use DNA to work out who he was

So......why can't they?

When DS was about 13 it became apparent that he didn't realise shampoo and conditioner were 2 different things. He'd been using either (probably whichever was nearest) to wash his hair as he thought they did the same thing.

Someone mentioned making instant coffee ... when DD was working at her Saturday/holiday job a colleague asked her to make them a (instant) coffee and DD had no idea how much to put in. She's never made one as at home we've always had a machine so DD uses that on the rare occasion she drinks coffee at home or makes it for someone else.

I agree @Spartonian.

As I understand it the tomb of the unknown soldier is a kind of figure head for all the poor souls who didn’t get a proper burial and their families have no grave. The idea being that it could be your son/husband/father.

I don’t know if it would be a good idea to do a DNA test but no reason why not.

I would assume there were dog tags attached to the bodies selected to be the choice of unknown soldier? So someone, somewhere would know who it was but the reason for the ‘unknown’ is for it to be ‘any son/husband/dad’.

I would think that if they had dog tags or the like then they would be returned to their family, or at least buried in a marked grave.

Either way I still don’t see why the idea of using a DNA test is so laughable.

Me neither - unless it was an elaborate hoax and there is no actual body?

I remember seeing a photo taken at the mass burial of soldiers in northern France when I was doing my o grade history. For some reason I hadn’t really given it much thought - but assumed all those nice neat rows...

It genuinely blew my DPs mind when about 3 years into our relationship he found out I didn't use a comb on my hair, but in fact a hairbrush

He has brothers and his mum has really short hair. So I guess he'd just never seen a hairbrush? No one had ever called it a hairbrush to him? But he'd clearly never heard the term "hairbrush" and thought everyone use combs.

He was all "but how do you detangle your hair if you don't use a comb!" DP I brush it?

How hed failed to notice me brushing my hair I don't know.

I'm more shocked that Kids can't tell the time on a normal clock.

I'm suprised at the teens who wear a watch but still can't tell the time.

They learn at primary and then forget, they all use their phones for time.

Re the unknown soldier and the DNA.

You need a sample to match it to, how do you find that?

Unknow, means

SORRY THIS WILL BE GRIM

means, in most cases nothing to identify, no face, number, partial uniform.

Then you have to have a close relative to give a sample to compare. These were young men, few had children and if they did, well the 'child' would be over 100 now.

So you would have to DNA test a huge number of people and still not get a match. And not just French people, France's borders moved a lot before WWII.

It's a bit different with someone like Richard III, you have known descendents and relatives. With the Romanovs there were also relatives and a blood sample from when Nicholas had been attacked in Japan.

I think the American one from Vietnam you would have family who had lost someone but who were still alive and better records of who they could be.

A friend (40 ish yrs old) was helping hindering me put some flat pack furniture together the conversation went ;

Me, can you fetch me the Philips screw driver ,
Him , 'where does Philip live ' ,
Me,
Him, I need to know which is his house if you want me to go and ask to borrow his screwdriver .
Me, no mean the cross head screwdriver ,
Him , But where does Philip live ? I will as him for a couple of different ones to make sure we get the right one .
Me >> walks past him and picks up the screwdriver that is a few feet from him

You know the expression 'blown to bits'? It's literally true. So the tomb of the unknown soldier probably doesn't actually contain 'a body' as in one person, as the bodies recovered who were recognisable were returned to family etc.

It's similar to when a disaster like a rail crash happens when the number of dead reported gets reduced over a few days - it's because the find a certain number of body parts which can only mean a certain number of people, whereas at first there appear to be a lot more.

I remember people not knowing what to do with loose leaf tea, putting a spoonful in each mug like instant coffee and not knowing to use a teapot and let it brew.

This was in my early days in the military, some 17-18 year olds didn't know how to wash their clothes, use an iron, polish their shoes, make a bed etc.

Talking to a friend about a mutual friend who'd had a baby. Friend asked what she had. I thought for a minute then very seriously said, can't remember, but I'm sure it was either a boy or a girl. You know, as if there's a third option to that question...

@AlCalavicci - PMSL! That is so funny! Philips screwdriver and needing to know where he lived so she could ask him for it....that's hilarious.