I am really starting to become genuinely concerned about this generation of young people.  

My family went to the movies this weekend here in Atlanta, at an otherwise quality business that served food while you enjoyed the movie. Problem is, last night things didn't go as planned for staff and management, and everyone seemed fairly ill-equipped to respond.

The computer system that runs the location and their food service seemingly went down during the movie, but after food orders were made by patrons, and the foot delivered.  After the computers went down, everything pretty much fell apart from that moment on.  

For the remainder of the movie and 45 minutes following, managers or workers (99% of the workers were under 20 years old) could not produce a bill to anyone, so that patrons could pay them.  No one had actually thought about taking out the actual printed menu, adding up each item individually, adding tax and tip, and producing that as a bill.  Not until we suggested it.  

Without the computer handheld devise computing everything and producing a final total, the team seemed totally lost. And I mean, totally. We finally escaped by adding up the totals ourselves. This redefines self-service.

Now I am as committed (and addicted) to handheld devises and technology as anyone else, but we must not (ever) abandon our critical thinking skills.  We must not stop teaching our young people to 'think for themselves.'  If we do – when and if we do — it is at that exact moment that America cedes its leadership position to every other ambitious and hard working nation in the world.

Remember, restaurant chains such as McDonalds and others did not replace numbers and math symbols on cash registers with pictures of actual hamburgers and fries for nothing.  Something to think about.

Let's go.

 

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