Ignorance is ignorant

If you wanted to know, you would have!
~Jon Taffer in Bar Rescue
(not sure if that’s the exact quote, but that’s the jist).

My biggest pet peeve in life is probably when someone says, “I could care less.” Or when people don’t know the difference between to, too, and two. Or when someone cuts me off while driving when they could have waited just two more seconds since there were no cars behind me. OK, there are a few peeves I have. I’ll stop there.

But outside of those, something completely irritating I’ve noticed as an overwhelming epidemic is ignorance. And it drives me insane. Especially in jobs. People want to be told everything over and over again; they want you to show them how to do it time and time again, or sometimes to do it for them. Does anyone take notes anymore so they can refer back to them and do it themselves? Does anyone feel embarrassed asking the same questions time and again? Because I sure as hell do. I would never ask the same question twice. I am too prideful to admit I don’t know something I should. So I educate myself. I always have. I am resourceful.

It’s not that hard to figure out all the resources at your disposal and use those. I have worked in plenty of jobs with no training. In fact, only one job I’ve ever had gave me top notch training, and in it, 9 of the original 15 people were let go before training ended because they couldn’t catch on. I have trained many people, and probably not to their standards, because I go over everything once and expect that to be enough. Because shouldn’t it be? Are we so unresourceful now that we can’t figure anything out without it being pounded into our heads? What happened to common sense and figuring shit out for yourself?

Maybe I’m a little more resourceful because I was homeschooled. Sure, we had a curriculum, but when I wasn’t satisfied with what I was learning in the books I was required to complete, I went to the library, or read Encyclopedias or the dictionary. I used a thesaurus when I would write to teach myself vocabulary. I cross referenced verses during devotions because I didn’t think the handouts they gave at church gave enough meat – just a bunch of fluffy stories and one half of a verse, usually. I have an insatiable curiosity, and maybe most people don’t.

I don’t think of ignorance as anything other than an excuse. Which is why I love Jon Taffer so much. Because he agrees with me on that. If you want to know something – figure it out! Don’t expect knowledge to just show up in your brain in the middle of watching Bachelor in Paradise. You work for what you have. And if you feel like you’re dumb, work not to be. If you aren’t catching on to your job, work harder at it.

Before becoming a waitress, I had to know the menu inside and out. They actually required I pass a test before I could wear that apron.  I had never had a drink in my life, but I learned scotches, whiskeys, rums, beers and wines. I had flash cards to tell me steak cuts and salad ingredients and cocktail garnishes. I figured the shit out.

I can’t stand it when other people don’t use their resources and always depend on another person to help them with everything. It’s co-dependence. I am teaching my kids independence already. I will have failed as a mother if they still need me in their 30s. I want them to want to hang out with me still, but I certainly don’t want either of them living in the basement. This old bitch will be even older and crankier then, and that shit won’t fly.