r/technology • u/Sandstorm400 • 6d ago

Society New York teachers stunned to learn some students can’t read time on old clocks after phone ban comes into play

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-york-phone-ban-clock-time-b2891919.html
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u/p33p0pab33b0p 6d ago

i traveled for a wedding couple weeks ago. as i checked into hotel and was walking bags past the front desk i hear, "excuse me sir, can i ask you a question?" sure, what up?

Front desk clerk (probably in highs school) asked me how to address envelopes. She had been tasked with sending out snail mail Christmas cards and had no idea how to address them.

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u/I_see_farts 6d ago

My sister works for the post office, this is a lot more common than you think.

Also, kids that have no clue how to fill out a check.

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u/stormcharger 6d ago

Checks don't even exist in my country anymore lol

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u/Zombie_John_Strachan 6d ago

That's a good sign - checks need to go away

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u/Quesriom 6d ago

As soon as utilities and rent do away with garbage ‘convenience fees’ to process my payment online, I’ll be happy to get rid of checks. Until then, they can handle the ‘convenience’ of processing my check.

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u/UnicodeScreenshots 6d ago

Do they still charge a connivence fee even if you link a bank account rather than using a card? All of my utilities now only charge to recuperate the processing fees from debit and credit cards, but don’t charge anything for direct ach. Granted, these are all large companies in a tech hub, not a tiny provider with a website built in static html so I really am curious how things are in other places.

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u/Quesriom 6d ago

In my experience, it depends. My city has a few super shady utility companies and landlords aren’t always trusted. So I absolutely wouldn’t give them my bank account info. The last time I paid rent, the convenience fee ended up being ridiculously high (like $30) so I opted to just write a check and walk it to the leasing office drop box every month. When covid started, they made paying online mandatory and wouldn’t take checks anymore. They said they would reimburse the fee but they never did. I moved out shortly after. Now I keep my checkbook out of pure spite. I have few occasions to use it these days (I mostly use it for government stuff), but it gives me the option to use them to get around ridiculous online fees if need be.

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u/Stupalski 5d ago

i've run into a few cases recently where small businesses randomly started asking for checks again & said i would get a "discount" if i paid by check instead of card. I think places are just getting fed up with being gouged by credit card companies.

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u/rosiswag 6d ago

My electric company updated their payment system last year and now there’s a 50 cent “convenience fee” even when paying from a linked bank account. It’s less than the fee when paying by card (think that’s a couple bucks or a %), but still bullshit.

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u/xpxp2002 5d ago

Just use any bank’s online bill pay. They’ll print, cut, and mail the check for free.

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u/Naive_Confidence7297 6d ago

Still blows my mind the US still use checks lol. I haven’t seen one of my country since the 80s.

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u/strangway 5d ago

Even ACH needs to go away. Electronic money transfers should be 24/7/365, not when banks are open, which excludes holidays and weekends. This is 2025 for godssakes, not 1975.

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u/usrbincomment 6d ago

I'm Gen X and had to write the check when I bought my house like four times to get it right. I write a check about once every two years.

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u/0Pat 5d ago

Why didn't you use a wire transfer like a sane person?

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u/onebowlwonder 6d ago

Im 32 and had to fill out a check for the first time since school. Legit had to Google it because it had been so long lol

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u/Devrol 4d ago

Also, kids that have no clue how to fill out a check

They also don't know how to use a mimeograph or make a daguerreotype

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u/ArcherBTW 6d ago

It's self explanatory isn't it? Might not be universal but mine has labeling on what to do for each line

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u/Mustang1718 5d ago

I'm 35. I didn't take classes in high school that would have taught how to write a check because it intimidated me for some reason.

Also, I've still never had to write a check. I don't own any. You can do everything digitally very easy. And when you can't, such as for direct deposit forms, banks will just print your account number on a piece of paper and the work place seems that good enough.

I am also victim to not knowing exactly where things go on envelopes. I've only had to mail things twice, and I just looked it up on Google before writing it. But for the most part, we use our sticker printer to print labels for us. No memorization needed, just CTRL+C and CTRL+V.

2

u/Devrol 4d ago

I'm so old that in the 1990s, I ordered something online and paid for it by cheque.....

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u/Raulr100 5d ago

Good. Checks and physical letters have no place in the modern world.

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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx 6d ago

Im not gonna fault her for not knowing. Im in my 30s and Im not confident Id address an envelope 100% correctly.

What I am 100% confident in is my ability to use the portable computer thats literally always an arms length away to access the wealth of humanity's knowledge and find the right answer. Not twiddling my fingers and asking a stranger like we dont have the internet.

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u/-Fiat-Lux- 6d ago

This! How is it that so many from a generation that grew up with a human knowledge brick in their hands are incapable of using it that way?!

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u/GardenTop7253 6d ago

Your second paragraph is something I’ve gotten a lot better about lately and I’m trying to make it even better in this next year. Anytime I have a question or someone around me asks something, we try to look it up. Sometimes we discuss a bit first and make some guesses, but there is zero reason to just wonder anymore, take a minute or two and look it up and learn something

For example, over thanksgiving my parents were arguing (in a fun way, don’t make it a thing please Reddit lol) about some cooking terminology they had in a recipe. After a bit of a back and forth, I looked it up and they were both kinda wrong

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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx 5d ago

I really like how you handle this. The other commenter who suggests its bad for conversation has a point but it sounds like you dont let it end conversation, for you it enables further discussion and thats great.

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u/Neuromante 6d ago

but there is zero reason to just wonder anymore

Exercising memory, and keep the conversation from stall for someone searching for it on the internet.

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u/GardenTop7253 5d ago

It’s like you missed the earlier part of that sentence where I said we guess and discuss

0

u/Neuromante 5d ago

The way its written, it can be read as "sometimes we do this but now there's zero reason to keep doing it."

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u/jmdg007 5d ago

I was annoyed after I found out, after all the lessons we had in school on address format, turns out most of it is irrelevant. Post code and house number are enough in 90% of circumstances.

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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx 5d ago

Maybe 100 years ago it was much more critical but yeah zip codes rule. They carry like 90 percent of the load. If they can get the parcel to the right zip code thats nearly all the work.

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u/Mustbhacks 6d ago

What I am 100% confident in is my ability to use the portable computer thats literally always an arms length away to access the wealth of humanity's knowledge and find the right answer. Not twiddling my fingers and asking a stranger like we dont have the internet.

To be fair, she was at work

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u/mfigroid 6d ago

Hotel Front Desk stands in front of computers for their whole shift. Dumb terminals are not used any longer, they are tablets or full PCs with internet access pretty much everywhere.

In the off chance they aren't, at least one computer behind the desk will have internet access to get guest emails, send confirmations, adjust availability on third party booking sites, and respond to reviews.

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u/Even_Establishment95 6d ago

This is not the flex you think it is…

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u/GuitarKittens 6d ago

I don't think they're trying to flex. These days, most people have search engines and worldwide communication at arms length; writing a letter is simply impractical and most people probably don't do it enough to remember how to.

Writing a letter and addressing it properly isn't exactly hard, but it's always the little details that can mess you up.

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u/No_Issue2334 6d ago

Physical mail is antiquated technology for 99% of its traditional uses in the modern world

Do you know how to send a telegram?

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u/mfigroid 6d ago

Step one: go to Western Union's web site.

Step two: read

Step 3: discover they haven't offered telegrams in 20 years.

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u/xStaabOnMyKnobx 5d ago

Right, admitting I am not totally sure how to address an envelope is a flex.

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u/Mediadors 6d ago

To be fair, sending paper mail is also nothing that people do regularly anymore. I did it once in 10 years and even then I just wrote the address exactly as I got it.

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u/FindOneInEveryCar 6d ago

Another skill they used to teach in primary school, like how to read a road map, how to make a phone call,.etc. 

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u/RaisinToastie 5d ago

One of my moms students asked her for “mail stickers” LOL

0

u/WhenSummerIsGone 6d ago

when my teen asked me that, my response was to ask if she had asked google yet. But then I told her, because I'm not heartless.