Young Whippersnappers

Thought of a word this morning that I haven’t heard for years. It probably was used when I was young and I haven’t heard of it since. Google gives the definition. It’s hard to get anything past Google. She says the word whippersnapper means young people are perceived by older folks to be impertinent. 

Wow, there’s a word which I have not heard. Some easier words are disrespectful or overconfident. I believe we older people become cynical about life. If you are older and haven’t been scammed six ways from Sunday, please tell me your secret. Don’t ever say yes over the phone. Life has not been easy and some occurrences have left scars. We have seen so many things that young people have yet to experience. Experience can be a great teacher, but can be very costly. 

I would like to suggest that a teacher or perhaps church youth group, befriend an elderly person. Either in a nursing home or in their home, but somehow make a connection. An older person could talk to a class and share much wisdom. 

I would like to see a class put away the math books for a couple days. Teach respect for other people. Go out in the marketplace and open the door for someone. Befriend someone in your school, especially someone that is not perceived as popular. When you pass by someone recognize them, say hello or excuse me. Don’t ignore people that you’re with. I would like to see a group, perhaps 4-H, which we did not have growing up, teach students gardening, canning, or preserving, and saving seeds. Grow sunflowers, the seeds are valuable for planting, feeding birds, and eating. A cool project would be making suet cakes for birds. Read the classics, read the Bible,  memorize important things. 

I will close with a math lesson. Everyone should know the prime numbers, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 17… How many are there between 2 and 100. Write the numbers to 100. Two is prime but strike out every even number. Three is prime and strike out every number which is a multiple of three. Four is not prime but five is prime and strike out every number ending in 5 or 0. Continue this till you get to 100 and memorize the prime numbers to 100. Ask your math teacher to recite them.

Prime numbers are used for adding fractions. Find a common denominator,  keep the same denominator and add the numerators. Add 1/6+1/21The least common denominator: 2•3•7  1/6= 1/2•3 +1/21  the sum is: 9/42 but this is not the correct answer. The correct answer is: 3/14. I pray this is correct.

I must stop, this is making my head hurt. Try writing this on a phone. I forgot there is something that I wish my teachers had taught me. I cannot converse with someone. If you meet someone you should have a memorized list of questions to ask them. Of course their name, where are you from, what is your occupation? What school do you go to, or where do you live? Or a simple list that makes sense to you. I wish someone had practiced conversations with me. It is hard for me to process things quickly. I can write, but it is hard for me to speak, and hold a conversation.

—James Neuhouser