Motivational Poster Thread (warning content)

1st let me say I get the meaning of the meme, and I agree-it's a sad statement for America.
But God bless those Chinese 3rd graders, because I'll never be that math smart.
I have always struggled with math. I hate math. I frigg'in loathe math. But contrary to what I believed in 8th grade, you really will use that crap in adult life. I am one of those people that just could not get anything above + - x and division.
For whatever reason this pissed my father off to no end. I can't tell you how many hours we sat at the kitchen table him explaining and me not getting. No amount of missed suppers, whippings made a dent. His brain evidently was what the Cray Supercomputers were based on, and mine was ment to retread tires and ride the short bus..He just could not accept that he had sired a mathematical retard. My Mum took pity on me and I'm sure she said something like," Yes he is a mathematical retard, but he rides wild horses better than you do so maybe there is hope.."
Then came fractions-sheyeah ok.. But father stumbled onto something.
A lufkin tape measure and a pocket full of change. With the tape measure: "A quarter, half, three quarters, full. 25 cents, a half dollar, 3/4 dollar and 1 dollar. I began to see-kinda. Then came 1/8ths and 1/16ths and 32nds. That 16 foot tape measure and pocket change was something I could understand.
MAYBE the mathtard can be taught. The only thing I loved more than working on stuff was shooting.
There is tones of math in shooting. Getting that tiny piece of lead to go where you want it to-every time takes math. I could do that math in my head, but not those stupid assed problems in those stupid assed books until I understood it's all one and the same-but the tiny lead problem was much more fun than the book stuff.
I could *SEE* the results of the lead math and that made it easy for me. The same with wrenches and micrometers, I understood it because I could see it. Over the years I learned the math that I needed. I can quote the formulas to find the proper diameter, radius, how to dog leg a pipe so it goes where it needs to, how to figure the proper rise for a staircase, as well as that getting that tiny piece of lead to go where it's supposed to-but math still sucks.

God bless those Chinese 3rd graders...

 

Want to really stump them nowadays? Hand them a rotary phone and a record player.

 

Roy Orbison riding a go cart in the 1960's.

I learned lots of car handling slills driving carts. First wife managed a big cart track. At night we'd reset the governors and wet the track. Great fun. It's a wonder I survived!