Are we getting dumber?
Whatever happened to common sense?
Here's what I mean:
A customer comes in because his gun is in pieces. He managed to disassemble a Remington 870 for some unknown reason and now can't put it together. He had it less than a week. Suddenly, he wants a replacement gun because his is defective. The only problem with it is that he can't figure out how to put it back together. He's adament that he knows the gun, since he owns several, yet he describes features that the 870 does not have. Somehow, quantity seems to make him an expert, and being a meddler makes him a gunsmith. WTH?
Another customer comes in because he lose the front pin that holds the trigger group in his Remington 1100. The rear pin is still there, the pins must be an inch and a half long, and held in by springs on both sides. They don't come out on their own. How he managed to get it out, and why he did so, I have no idea.
A customer comes in to fill out his paperwork on a pistol. He's a resident alien, who forgot his green card, his 90 days of utilities, and his photo ID (driving on a ticket). The next day, he comes in with his documents, only to complain that he didn't want a .40 caliber pistol, he wanted a 9mm......after looking over the very same gun the day before, and saying he wanted it (it was a .40).
A customer comes in to buy a rifle. He ends up buying a .270 WSM, not realizing it isn't a .270 Win. He figures this out when he tries to chamber a .270 Win round, and it won't fit. Duh!
A customer comes in to buy a rifle. Never asks to see the contents of the SEALED container. Fills out his paperwork. Waits his 24 hours (IL sucks). Recertifies his paperwork. Takes his gun home. Comes back the next day because he bought a left-handed gun, when he needed a right-handed gun. Never occurred to him to check the gun before leaving the store.
This all happened in the same store, within a week and a half. When was it that common sense became so uncommon? What are the odds that so many stupid people come into my shop?
Here's what I mean:
A customer comes in because his gun is in pieces. He managed to disassemble a Remington 870 for some unknown reason and now can't put it together. He had it less than a week. Suddenly, he wants a replacement gun because his is defective. The only problem with it is that he can't figure out how to put it back together. He's adament that he knows the gun, since he owns several, yet he describes features that the 870 does not have. Somehow, quantity seems to make him an expert, and being a meddler makes him a gunsmith. WTH?
Another customer comes in because he lose the front pin that holds the trigger group in his Remington 1100. The rear pin is still there, the pins must be an inch and a half long, and held in by springs on both sides. They don't come out on their own. How he managed to get it out, and why he did so, I have no idea.
A customer comes in to fill out his paperwork on a pistol. He's a resident alien, who forgot his green card, his 90 days of utilities, and his photo ID (driving on a ticket). The next day, he comes in with his documents, only to complain that he didn't want a .40 caliber pistol, he wanted a 9mm......after looking over the very same gun the day before, and saying he wanted it (it was a .40).
A customer comes in to buy a rifle. He ends up buying a .270 WSM, not realizing it isn't a .270 Win. He figures this out when he tries to chamber a .270 Win round, and it won't fit. Duh!
A customer comes in to buy a rifle. Never asks to see the contents of the SEALED container. Fills out his paperwork. Waits his 24 hours (IL sucks). Recertifies his paperwork. Takes his gun home. Comes back the next day because he bought a left-handed gun, when he needed a right-handed gun. Never occurred to him to check the gun before leaving the store.
This all happened in the same store, within a week and a half. When was it that common sense became so uncommon? What are the odds that so many stupid people come into my shop?
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you cant teach it and for some it can't be taught.
common intelligence, its a mystery. you either have it or you don't.[8D]0 -
quote:Are we getting dumber?
In a word: yes.0 -
You are a magnet.
You get all the dumb people.
There are none anywhere else.
Doug0 -
+1 0 -
+2
oh wait, -1 -- I am dumb.0 -
NEVER EVER ! underestimate the power of human stupidity [:p] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by does it go bang
NEVER EVER ! underestimate the power of human stupidity [:p]
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds.
-- A.E.0 -
On the topic: well, looks like this particular forum gather all of the geniuses of the world and Mensa can safely be retired. Now, what do you think people look like when they post in "computer help" topics here? Everyone has an inferiority AND superiority complex and on top of that everyone's a subject matter expert -- the funnest to watch while pretty most dangerous combination. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilson
You are a magnet.
You get all the dumb people.
There are none anywhere else.
Doug
we should thank him for keeping them out of our hair.[:D][:D][:D]0 -
quote:A customer comes in to buy a rifle. Never asks to see the contents of the SEALED container. Fills out his paperwork. Waits his 24 hours (IL sucks). Recertifies his paperwork. Takes his gun home. Comes back the next day because he bought a left-handed gun, when he needed a right-handed gun. Never occurred to him to check the gun before leaving the store.
I don't think that people are just normally dumb. You just have gotten smarter and less tolerant of those who are not experts.
You have to understand that not everyone that buys a gun is an expert or even knows how to shoot the darn things. It would be great if all your customers were old-hand-type gun people. The reality is that they are not. And, those inept people might even be the salvation of freedom of ownership of guns in this country. I suggest you be a heck of a lot more tolerant towards your customers in that regard.
The people that tore their guns up and somehow are blaming you, of course, need to he educated a bit, but still tolerated, abeit not at your expense.
As for the left handed gun. Well, THAT one, I CAN understand. That's something you should have discussed with your customer before you sold the gun to him, so that one's on you. Most people would not think about a gun being left-handed. Heck, you don't even hardly see them. Personally, I would have had you open the box and taken a look at the gun, but many folks would not. He was one of them.
As for the guy changing his mind from .40 to 9mm before he buys from you, that's his option. Like it or not, this is one of those the-customer-is-always-right situations.0 -
as RON WHITE says"YOU CANT FIX STUPID"[:D][:D] 0 -
"We" are not getting dumber. It's all of those other folks. 0 -
Very few people can deal with change. They are creatures of habit. Get up, drink coffee, start the day. If they get up and have no coffee to drink, the whole day is out of kilter. They must stop at the Quickie Mart and are late to work because they didn't count the time spent at the stop since they left home at the regular time. The boss chews their ass and their productivity drops.
Life sweeps them along rather than them exerting any control over it. They are reactive instead of being proactive. Chances are, there will be people reading this who have no clue what the two preceeding sentences mean. Some families don't encourage education which is what it all boils down to. Learning. Learning to deal with life and all of it's opportunities and hazards. One who is able to cope is considered bright while one who has difficulty is considered dumb. We all know people who seem to be snakebit.
A hundred years ago, the frontier killed them off PDQ. Whether they didn't carry enough water or the Injun's scalped them, they didn't survive to reproduce. Nowadays, society doesn't have that safeguard.
It's not that people are getting dumber, it's just not enough of them are getting killed off early enough.0 -
You should try running a garage.I deal with dumb dumbs every day.Here was yesterdays,guy said his dash lights didn't work.Sure enough his dimmer switch was turned all the way down to off.I think people should have to read an owner's manual before they are allowed to drive. 0 -
Frog: 21
Here's dumb!
There was a crowd of bees flying around one day. These bees were most peculiar. They were powered by gasoline, rather than the allergenic goodies that bees usually eat. As the crowd flew along, periodically a bee or two would start to sputter; it would fly down to a gas station, drink up the gas spilled in fueling a car, and then fly up and rejoin the crowd.
One bee began to sputter a little, but flew right by an open gas station. As he passed the second station, he coughing badly, but still he flew on. Finally, as he was on his last fumes, he dove down to a station and gassed up.
When he rejoined the crowd, his neighbor challenged him:
"Look, you passed right by an open station when you started to get low. You passed another station when you were perilously low. And finally, you ran out of gas just in time to glide into that last station. Are you crazy?"
He replied, "Well, it's like this. The first station was a Gulf station. I really don't like Gulf at all. The second station was a Texaco station. That's even worse. But the third station was an Esso station. Let me tell you, Esso is my brand of gasoline. You know what they say don't you? ...
"There's an Esso Bee in every crowd!"
See?
[:D]0 -
Did you hint your in IL? (enough said) 0 -
quote:Originally posted by eastwood44mag
Whatever happened to common sense?
Here's what I mean:
A customer comes in to buy a rifle. He ends up buying a .270 WSM, not realizing it isn't a .270 Win. He figures this out when he tries to chamber a .270 Win round, and it won't fit. Duh! What are the odds that so many stupid people come into my shop?
Well then count me stupid. I would figure a .270 would fit a .2700 -
Good read, but don't confuse stupid with under-educated. When I go in to buy a suit... the guy that's fitting it doesn't expect me to know anything about tailoring... I have to trust him to help me make a wise choice.
I've been in gun shops where...
- The guy behind the counter had never even heard of Dan Wesson.
- The guy dropped my gun twice.
- They ran out of 9mm.0 -
Don't let it get to you Eastwood.
Smoke a good cigar and laugh at them.
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I don't know a whole lot about anything, but I know a little bit about many things. Please forgive me.
Everyone's ignorant, only on different subjects. Will Rogers"0 -
No, I do think people are getting dumb- it isn't that they just aren't experts. Common sense goes a long way- like common sense remembering your ID documents, examining goods before you buy, or understanding the specifications for any machine (i.e. a gun) before you attempt to operate it- including caliber for a gun, or proper weight oil for a car, or what have you.
In other words, a smart man, with common sense, can figure out most things with some work, if he sets his mind to it.
I fully admit there are things I don't know much about. But if I don't, and I need to, I do research. I read. I ask.
Let's take some examples. I needed a new radiator in my car. I had never replaced a radiator. I didn't know how to do it. I didn't want to pay a mechanic. So I asked (here as it was), read three seperate shop manuals, and talked to a mechanic. And you know what? I'm a smart guy. I figured it out and saved $200 in the process.
I wanted a computer but thought I could do better than the $1000 I would have needed (at that time) to shell out for the desired system. I decided to try building my own. I didn't know RAM from a goat at the time- but I read 3 books cover to cover, talked to the guy at a computer supply place a bit, and voila. I got it working, first try.
Guns are a heck of a lot more dangerous than computers and at least on par with a car. If somoene doesn't respect them enough to do some research AND RESPECT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE WHO ALREADY KNOW SOMETHING they should not own one.0 -
There is no evidence that humans are getting either smarter or dumber, and brain size has remained in the same range for hundreds of thousands of years. The cumulative effect of being smart (Ok, there IS a lot of variation in human intelligence, and that is normal variation) for so long is that what we know has accumulated and so we have gone from campfires by the cave to Mustangs and Helicopters and guys walking on the moon, and a bunch of us gun lovers communicating here almost in real time from all over the country. Again I stress, that some of us are not very bright and that is part of the normal variation. Most of us have talents and things we don't do so well. Some of us are bull headed, but over time humans stay pretty much the same. Even with reincarnation we stay pretty much the same. For example:
"What does Reincarnation mean?"
A cowpoke asked his friend.
His pal replied, "It happens when
Yer life has reached its end.
They comb yer hair, and warsh yer neck,
And clean yer fingernails,
And lay you in a padded box
Away from life's travails."
"The box and you goes in a hole,
That's been dug into the ground.
Reincarnation starts in when
Yore planted 'neath a mound.
Them clods melt down, just like yer box,
And you who is inside.
And then yore just beginnin' on
Yer transformation ride."
"In a while, the grass'll grow
Upon yer rendered mound.
Till some day on yer moldered grave
A lonely flower is found.
And say a hoss should wander by
And graze upon this flower
That once wuz you, but now's become
Yer vegetative bower."
"The posy that the hoss done ate
Up, with his other feed,
Makes bone, and fat, and muscle
Essential to the steed,
But some is left that he can't use
And so it passes through,
And finally lays upon the ground
This thing, that once wuz you."
"Then say, by chance, I wanders by
And sees this upon the ground,
And I ponders, and I wonders at,
This object that I found.
I thinks of reincarnation,
Of life and death, and such,
And come away concludin': 'Don,
You ain't changed, all that much.'"0 -
Every day life has changed, and not for the better, to such an extent that we see a trickle down effect in all aspects of society. Sorta like a butterfly effect, but much more direct. My 2 cents. 0
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