• wabasso@lemmy.ca
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    9 days ago

    I have this formative moment from my teenage years where I finished something in the fridge and asked my parents if I should leave the packaging in there. My dad, obviously frustrated with the question, snapped back asking if I saw an accumulation of empty packaging in the fridge.

    My kids are starting to do this now. I’m still perplexed why this is the default our brains take.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      I think I’m more forgiving if it’s literal kids, like teenagers and younger, at least they have the excuse of not having fully formed brains yet and are always distracted anyway, any generation.

      My worry is the people I referenced in my anecdotal lament are well into adulthood, and it’s not isolated. I clearly remember a time when things were different. Everyone is acting like distracted teenagers through conversations, business calls, work appointments and using services. When your primary view of the world is through the lens of the broad internet, it can be easy to miss because there is the slimmest barrier of entry to get to a site like “Lemmy” but now most average internet users just scroll the home-screen on their phone or use social media apps that aggregate content. We’re at a 20% functional illiteracy rate for the US and this should be some kind of alarm that goes off and locks the entire country down when seen in at the same time as a 500% increase in reported "air rage incidents."

      We’re heading for a zombie apocalypse.

      • wabasso@lemmy.ca
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        16 hours ago

        I read through that literacy link a bit. Very interesting. I was assuming at least a majority of the adult illiteracy was from people born outside the country, but that’s only 34% of them! Do you know how California has the lowest rate by state? Are those 34% concentrated there, or is public school particularly bad there? I’m not American.

        • ameancow@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          I haven’t looked into the methodology but I would wager off the top of my head that it has to do with the large migrant population in California. (you’ve probably seen a little bit of news about it) California being a highly populated, coastal state with a booming economy means it has more of everything. It has the most problems and conversely it has the most solutions, the most high-tech, progressive ideas and industries across the street from homeless tent-towns.

    • starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works
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      9 days ago

      I think its just a “this was in there before so it must go back in after im done using it,” since it’s only when it’s fully empty that changes.