Apples to Cabbage

    When one thinks of literacy one might think of one’s ability to read, write, and comprehend material efficiently. Generally this is how I think of it but only in an academic setting. I believe that there are different forms of literacy but schools only have the capabilities to test ones ability to read, write, and comprehend. For instance, at every job I have worked there is a different kind of lingo associated with it, for two summers I worked as a dockhand at a marina. Putting boats in and out of the water and maneuvering them around required cooperation and good communication. We handled customer’s million dollar boats with forklifts specially designed for lifting and moving boats from their multi story bunk racks down into the water and back. Using a mixture of hand signals and shouts we quickly lifted, lowered, launched, maneuvered, docked, and washed hundreds of boats a day without incident. This type of skill neither be taught nor tested in school. It is not particularly difficult but not everyone can do it. There are many kinds of things like this one out there in the real world that school does not and can not teach you how to do. The key it seems is to be able to combine both skills, but I can only speculate as I have not yet entered my profession. The employment opportunities that I have had thus far have only required the communication and none of the polish that one learns in school. I have not had to write for any job so far and given the choice between the hands on approach or the polished school approach I would rather have the hands on practical skills. There are plenty of people out there that are educated and unintelligent. And then people who do not need an education to be intelligent. Natural common sense is much more highly regarded for me than any knowledge picked up in a text book.