Older Adults Are Sharing The Skills That Were Extremely Valued"Back Then" But Aren't As Relevant Or Important Now
"Very nice cursive handwriting. Boy, did we practice that a lot in early elementary school. Also, my mom absolutely required cursive to be used in EVERY SINGLE thank you note I wrote for EVERY SINGLE gift I ever received. Actually, thank you notes were more valued back then, too, it seems.""Handwriting. I've almost lost the skill myself. My grandchildren know next to nothing about cursive. They can type like wizzes, even the youngest at 11, but struggle to write out a note.
"Working in a darkroom. I considered myself a 'special ninja' because I could develop film and magically make images appear on paper. Now? Not so much." "Being good at business writing, technical writing, and documentation. AI can do it better and faster than any of us can now." "Spelling. When I was a kid, being a perfect speller was praised and rewarded. Today, when kids write something, they run it through their spellchecker or rely on auto-correct . But knowing how to spell all kinds of words on your own isn't as much of a necessity these days."
"Remembering things. I used to know a hundred people's phone numbers, all my friends and family's birthdays, and a lot of poetry memorized. None of that matters now because everything is always available on people's phones."