OT: Do you know anyone that is illiterate?

[duckcock2.0.0]

I was in Dollar General earlier buying some batteries, and this older guy, probably around 70, was asking an employee where to find something. She pointed him toward it and told him it was under a sign to where she was pointing. He told her he couldn't read and asked her to take him to it. I felt bad for him.

What must it be like to go your entire life without being able to read or write? I have a great uncle that can't read. I just can't imagine looking at a newspaper or writing on a t.v. screen and not understanding what it means.

 

[lowcountry_cock13]

One of my grandmothers can’t read. I got in trouble in 2nd grade because I had to have a parents/guardian signature an assignment and she printed her name on it and they said I tried to very terribly to forge her signature.

 

[SparkleCity]

One of my grandmothers can’t read. I got in trouble in 2nd grade because I had to have a parents/guardian signature an assignment and she printed her name on it and they said I tried to very terribly to forge her signature.

And I bet she has a I.D.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Not to make too lightly of your point, he did say he couldn't read, however, the same happens for foreign visitors that do not speak, or read English. I know how I felt when I was last in France, shopping.

 

[Who Cares_Who Cares]

Yeah but he's 2

 

[DaddyRooster]

I think everyone that I know can read. HOWEVER, comprehension is a different matter altogether.

 

[uscnoklahoma2]

And I bet she has a I.D.

Jesus freaking Christ do you have a large elephant tattooed on your forehead and a giant Trump flag on your house? You literally bring politics into every mfing thread we have.

 

[fowl_mood]

Jesus freaking Christ do you have a large elephant tattooed on your forehead and a giant Trump flag on your house? You literally bring politics into every mfing thread we have.

Not much respect for Jesus Christ, hey? Disgusting language. Have a little more respect for peoples beliefs, please.

 

[SCexpat38]

I have a cousin in the Upstate who never learned to read and write. He can fix anything and managed to do good for himself fixing looms in mills. He's in his 60s now and managed to raise and support a family.

 

[CockofEarle]

I was in Dollar General earlier buying some batteries, and this older guy, probably around 70, was asking an employee where to find something. She pointed him toward it and told him it was under a sign to where she was pointing. He told her he couldn't read and asked her to take him to it. I felt bad for him.

What must it be like to go your entire life without being able to read or write? I have a great uncle that can't read. I just can't imagine looking at a newspaper or writing on a t.v. screen and not understanding what it means.

SC

 

[TheReelEss]

Yeah I know someone that's mostly illiterate. I'm sure he had a learning disability and I know he dropped out. He managed to work for decades and made good money as a welder. He's also in his 70s.

 

[rogue cock]

I was in Dollar General earlier buying some batteries, and this older guy, probably around 70, was asking an employee where to find something. She pointed him toward it and told him it was under a sign to where she was pointing. He told her he couldn't read and asked her to take him to it. I felt bad for him.

What must it be like to go your entire life without being able to read or write? I have a great uncle that can't read. I just can't imagine looking at a newspaper or writing on a t.v. screen and not understanding what it means.

It is surprising the number who can't. I used to volunteer at the Greenville Literacy Association many, many years ago and was shocked at the number of people who couldn't read or write.

 

[CockofEarle]

Yeah I know someone that's mostly illiterate. I'm sure he had a learning disability and I know he dropped out. He managed to work for decades and made good money as a welder. He's also in his 70s.

He was fortunate to have chosen that profession, seems they are always a shortage of them & always in demand.

 

[TheReelEss]

He was fortunate to have chosen that profession, seems they are always a shortage of them & always in demand.

Yes, they can make as much as they want if they'll travel, especially to union wage areas. I know one that went to Saudi for a month then took the rest of the year off.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Many of the elderly today were sharecroppers as children and didn't attend school. That changed dramatically with the wholesale adoption of mechanical farming. My father picked cotton, but was educated.

 

[TheReelEss]

Many of the elderly today were sharecroppers as children and didn't attend school. That changed dramatically with the wholesale adoption of mechanical farming. My father picked cotton, but was educated.

My dad grew up on a farm in a big family and they farmed cotton and raised what they ate. They plowed with a mule early on. He took a job in a textile mill while he was still in school to get off the farm and never looked back.

 

[BigWillieCock]

Jesus freaking Christ do you have a large elephant tattooed on your forehead and a giant Trump flag on your house? You literally bring politics into every mfing thread we have.

I get your point. I really do.

But I also see the point in this reply. Think how hard it must be to survive in this world not being able to read for 70 some odd years. Yet plenty of people do. They have jobs, have homes and drive cars. All of which require ID. WITHOUT being able to read.

Maybe it is political, hence me saying I get your point. But can it also be something else at the same time?

Could it just be making a point? Everyone’s getting all their hair up over IDs. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the reply is just saying that odds are an illiterate person hasn’t had it easy but probably has an ID. In other words, it isn’t as hard to get an ID as some people make it out to be.

that’s my take, obviously I could be wrong.

 

[BigWillieCock]

Oh and by the way, yes, I had two great uncles who could not read. Between the two raised 5 kids, served in WW2 and owned their homes.

 

[The Coup Nazi]

I know a guy (recently passed away) who could not read or write. However he could take a mobile phone and text in such a way that his communication was understandable. More than once I remarked to him that it was impossible, even as he was doing it. Then, take away his phone and ask him to write something simple, like a grocery list, and he’d be lost. If anyone knows how it’s possible, please tell me. Oh, and I know he wasn’t faking his illiteracy.

 

[stevestrat2]

Sort of related, kind of, maybe - had a guy that used to come in our office some years ago. His speech was so hard to understand that a casual bystander would assume he spoke some other language. But crazy thing is if you could get your comprehension in tune with a couple of words and his cadence you could understand what he was saying. One person in our office could do it and it was amazing to watch them have a conversation. I later was able to do it at times too and others around would just look at you amazed. And it felt great when you honed on his frequency and talked and laughed together.

 

[captiva73]

I stay active with the library in my home town and am a big advocate of addressing literacy - no matter
the age. Being able to read is one thing - using that skill to learn and better your life is the important
next step. I was the first in my family to go to college - I thank my mother for promoting my reading
as a kid which made learning much easier in later life.

 

[GoCocksFight2021]

My dad grew up on a farm in a big family and they farmed cotton and raised what they ate. They plowed with a mule early on. He took a job in a textile mill while he was still in school to get off the farm and never looked back.

Same exact story with my Dad. He could read though, and was really smart. He could fix anything. He could also read people very well.

 

[hahnenkampf]

Not to make too lightly of your point, he did say he couldn't read, however, the same happens for foreign visitors that do not speak, or read English. I know how I felt when I was last in France, shopping.

You are correct about the difficulty. The good thing is that Europeans understand that a lot of tourists don’t understand their language so they a quite proficient at hand language. In my travels to France and Germany I didn’t have much trouble communicating. I love the translator app on my iPhone — I just speak into it and it speaks back in the language I preselected.

 

[uscnoklahoma2]

Not much respect for Jesus Christ, hey? Disgusting language. Have a little more respect for peoples beliefs, please.

I get your point. I really do.

But I also see the point in this reply. Think how hard it must be to survive in this world not being able to read for 70 some odd years. Yet plenty of people do. They have jobs, have homes and drive cars. All of which require ID. WITHOUT being able to read.

Maybe it is political, hence me saying I get your point. But can it also be something else at the same time?

Could it just be making a point? Everyone’s getting all their hair up over IDs. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the reply is just saying that odds are an illiterate person hasn’t had it easy but probably has an ID. In other words, it isn’t as hard to get an ID as some people make it out to be.

that’s my take, obviously I could be wrong.

You could post about lacrosse and he will bring politics up.

 

[hahnenkampf]

I was in Dollar General earlier buying some batteries, and this older guy, probably around 70, was asking an employee where to find something. She pointed him toward it and told him it was under a sign to where she was pointing. He told her he couldn't read and asked her to take him to it. I felt bad for him.

What must it be like to go your entire life without being able to read or write? I have a great uncle that can't read. I just can't imagine looking at a newspaper or writing on a t.v. screen and not understanding what it means.

Many older people can read but they can’t see well enough to read. Eyesight deteriorates over time and cataracts develop that prevent reading. My dad was that way — I had to read everything to him even though he was an avid book reader all of his life.

 

[SparkleCity]

You could post about lacrosse and he will bring politics up.

Oh really, check out " very crude nude dude in sparkle city" on this same page.

 

[Dizzy01]

I had an uncle who was dyslexic and never really learned how to overcome it. He was deemed “slow” in school and his inability to read didn’t stop the army from drafting him. They diagnosed the issue and trained him as a mechanic. He was able to lead a long productive life and my aunt eventually helped him learn to sign his name but he was never able to do much more than that.

 

[Lurker123]

Sort of related, kind of, maybe - had a guy that used to come in our office some years ago. His speech was so hard to understand that a casual bystander would assume he spoke some other language. But crazy thing is if you could get your comprehension in tune with a couple of words and his cadence you could understand what he was saying. One person in our office could do it and it was amazing to watch them have a conversation. I later was able to do it at times too and others around would just look at you amazed. And it felt great when you honed on his frequency and talked and laughed together.

Was he cajun? Had almost the same experience myself with a cajun dude.

 

[TheReelEss]

Same exact story with my Dad. He could read though, and was really smart. He could fix anything. He could also read people very well.

I didn't mean to imply my dad or any of his family were illiterate.

 

[Gamecock80SC]

Not any personally but I’ve ran into a few people like that. Some very successful and a lot to show for it based off hard work.

 

[USCMBA77]

Are you specifically referring to Clemson football players???

 

[Mcbulldog1]

I know a guy (recently passed away) who could not read or write. However he could take a mobile phone and text in such a way that his communication was understandable. More than once I remarked to him that it was impossible, even as he was doing it. Then, take away his phone and ask him to write something simple, like a grocery list, and he’d be lost. If anyone knows how it’s possible, please tell me. Oh, and I know he wasn’t faking his illiteracy.

Just a guess here but he had probably stared at enough words to know what they meant and could copy those in his mind by seeing the letters in front of him on the keyboard but still not know how to physically write them

 

[USMCatFan]

I was in Dollar General earlier buying some batteries, and this older guy, probably around 70, was asking an employee where to find something. She pointed him toward it and told him it was under a sign to where she was pointing. He told her he couldn't read and asked her to take him to it. I felt bad for him.

What must it be like to go your entire life without being able to read or write? I have a great uncle that can't read. I just can't imagine looking at a newspaper or writing on a t.v. screen and not understanding what it means.

I used to manage a janitorial company here in Lexington over 20 years ago. During that time I encountered two functionally illiterate employees.

The first (in his 50's at the time), made a big deal about coworkers not knowing. Although most of the ones similar in age knew. He was part of a 10 - 12 person crew that cleaned a high rise bank downtown at night. I made the mistake (I forgot he couldn't read) of passing out a hard copy of a policy change during a crew meeting. He made a big show of putting on a set of readers and eying the handout for about 10 seconds. Then, he held it up looking directly at me and asked, "What's up with this?" as if he had read it and didn't see the need for the change. Obviously being illiterate was an embarrassment for him and he had developed a number of ways to hide it.

The 2nd was going to be working alone in a small plant. He was about 35 at the time. At the end of the interview I stated he was hired. He said, "I have to tell you something. Other than signing my name, I can't read or write." I was stunned. His application said he worked as an EMT at a volunteer fire department. I asked about that because I was intimately familiar with the training and testing required. He was indeed an EMT. Under state law, for the exams he was allowed to have someone read the questions to him and write down his answers. I told him because it was a plant that I would need to inform the plant manager and get his approval for safety concerns. He was cool with that. Plant manager was also shocked, but sympathetic. He said they would give him a tour of the plant pointing out any safety issues.

 

[mUSiC-man]

Many of the elderly today were sharecroppers as children and didn't attend school. That changed dramatically with the wholesale adoption of mechanical farming. My father picked cotton, but was educated.

I volunteer in a subsidized apartment complex for the elderly in a rural SC county and the average grade completed for the residents is 6th grade. And they all tell me the same thing, they had to quit school to go work on the farm.

 

[WorldTraveler]

My father was born in 1895 and attended a one room school through the 4th grade. I thought that he was better educated than the high school students that I went to school with in the fifties. I have since come to think that he was better educated than college students of today.
He quit school to go to work in the cotton mills in South Carolina to get away from his father who beat the crap out of him. At least that is what he told me when I was a kid.

 

[Horseshoe 04]

I struggle to read greens even after 30+ years of experience....

 

[NYC_Gamecock]

I have a co-worker whom I suspect is semi-illiterate if that makes any sense. Last week, she sent an email to me and another employee. Upon receiving it, I was unable to comprehend what was written due to the number of run on sentences, lack of cohesive thought structure, and incorrect grammar. It resembled something written by a kindergarten student or someone who was inebriated. In other words, it was a piece of s**t that should never have been sent out to anyone. Absolutely appalling!!!

 

[hahnenkampf]

I have a co-worker whom I suspect is semi-illiterate if that makes any sense. Last week, she sent an email to me and another employee. Upon receiving it, I was unable to comprehend what was written due to the number of run on sentences, lack of cohesive thought structure, and incorrect grammar. It resembled something written by a kindergarten student or someone who was inebriated. In other words, it was a piece of s**t that should never have been sent out to anyone. Absolutely appalling!!!

Many of today’s college students cannot write nor comprehend written material. They really never learned basic Subject-verb-object (SVO) composition in the fifth grade and later years of schooling. In teaching college courses as an adjunct professor for 25 years, I failed a lot of papers because they were unreadable.

 

[Gamecock122]

I know a guy (recently passed away) who could not read or write. However he could take a mobile phone and text in such a way that his communication was understandable. More than once I remarked to him that it was impossible, even as he was doing it. Then, take away his phone and ask him to write something simple, like a grocery list, and he’d be lost. If anyone knows how it’s possible, please tell me. Oh, and I know he wasn’t faking his illiteracy.

I believe he does this by sight of keys. He watched enough others do it normally knowing what they were writing
Similar to reading lips

 

[NMB Dave]

I worked as a nurse assistant in college and I’ve always remembered what a nursing director at the hospital told us, “people who can’t read are experts at hiding it”.
I imagine it happens less than it used to, but we would come across patients who couldn’t read and have to take special care to ensure they understood discharge instructions, follow up appts, when to take prescriptions, etc.