Can You Read This?

Do you know how to read or do you point your finger at pictures when going to Home Depot? Being illiterate must be frustrating for folks. A few weeks ago I was at my golf course and had an hour to wait for my buddies to arrive so I thought I'd walk the woods on hole #10 to kill time. I enjoy hawking for balls. It's a peaceful stroll among the flora and fauna and, once in awhile, an errant shot by a golfer finds it's way to your path. Anyway, on this particular day as I was looking for Titleists a maintenance man mowing the fairways rode up to me and began shouting in a hate-filled rant, "*%*^%#@### You and get the hell outta here".*** As you can imagine, since I pay to belong to this place, I was more than flabbergasted. I reported Joe Schmo to the management and requested an apology letter or I wanted the retirement aged guy fired. What I received on a piece of paper read like something written by Abraham Lincoln prior to the Gettysburg Address so I knew it didn't come from the grass cutter. It was later revealed to me that management had to write the letter because said yokel was completely illiterate.*** This brings be to the point of this post. The state of Florida requires its high school students to take a reading test before they graduate. All 9th and 10th graders, to meet high school graduation requirements, have to pass this test. 50% of them failed the exam.
I can understand this result. Kids have many more important things to do than learn to read; hanging out at the mall is important. Working on schemes to get your girlfriend pregnant or high on drugs can work against them, too. It's impossible to lump all schools into the reading problem. Let's face it, the problems lie mostly in the inner cities. You know these. They're the ones controlled by the democrat party since the inception of the Great Society boondoggle. I'm willing to wager my next social security check that if private school scores are eliminated from the testing report the 50% score jumps dramatically. In 1985 I earned an interview at a high school in Kansas City, Turner H.S. to be exact, for a head basketball coaching position. Since I'd never been to KC for a professional job I was darned excited---until I saw the school. It was in the inner city. A chain link fence surrounded the school grounds of this coed facility. At the top of the fence was one of those barbed wire jobbers tilted inward. The air went out of my balloon faster than a bullet one inch away from the intended victim. Even before the interview I had my answer on whether or not I was going to take the job but I went through  with the interview anyway. After all, it was a life experience.
So, who do we blame for this problem? How about the parent's who have the kids from day 1? If the children don't get the basics by third grade they'll lose interest. They become embarrassed and won't try. I recall going to the blackboard to diagram sentences or trying to solve a basic math problem in front of the class. It was frustrating because I just didn't get it. I was in a position where I didn't tell anyone how I felt because I didn't want to look stupid. Wouldn't it have been nice if I would have been able to tell a teacher or parent how I felt? To me, though, reading is much different that diagramming sentences. At least , "we ain't got no" gets the point across wheres 10 plus 10 equals 5,000 doesn't work that well. Do the teachers fit into the mix? I wonder how excited and motivated the teachers were to trudge into their classroom at good ol' Turner High School. Personally, I don't see a way out. The government has the answer as usual. Throw more money at the problem. Our money! I'd appreciate any and all comments on this subject. I'm at a loss and for me to admit that is a revelation for mankind.
The next time you go into a Wendy's look at the register. The cashier takes your order by pressing a picture of what you want. Management will say it's to speed up the process and they're correct. If a kid had to look at numbers and names, cars would be lined up out into in the streets at the drive-thru. When my grandson was three he told me he could read. "Show me", I said. We drove by a Burger King and he shouted out what it was. That's the type of reading we're getting from our kids----in the inner cities.
I think Elizabeth Warren, faux senatorial candidate from Massachusetts and faux Indian might have the correct response to education in America if interviewed: "We're in heap big trouble"!

*** Goober and another worker were looking for balls themselves and thought I was stealing their cookie jar cash