I’m nearly forty years old; I don’t know what it was, my mom teaching me skills that the schools weren’t or being in a specific US State, but I had a college reading level in second grade because I LOVED reading. However, I didn’t read a lot of fiction (mostly Tolkien and R.L. Stine), I read a lot of encyclopedias, the World English Dictionary published in the 1970’s, text books, user manuals, etc. I fell into the digital age trap of social media for several years, now I have none. That coupled with constantly… I hate to say “dumbing down” because I don’t look down on anyone, but it was basically that; no one understood me if I actually spoke the way that my brain worked as a child.
It’s been difficult rebuilding my vocabulary and retraining my brain, so this hits home big time.
I actually had this problem at my last job. I was cross-trained on almost everything within 6 months and I was there for 9 years. Every day was a learning experience for me, but I enjoy learning how things tick so it was heaven. It was one of the most profitable printing companies in the US. The ONE change that I made in that company before the owner passed away, was driving cross-training within to make the company run smoother between office and production.
I DIDN’T get paid more, I DID get the false promise of a promotion; I got used and abused by the local management (not the owners fault; the parent plant was in Michigan where he resided). I was treated like shit, like a machine, because I was cross-trained. That wasn’t what I wanted. I just wanted better communication and a better work environment, what I got in return was a shit ton of PTSD and an even more extreme aversion to trusting humans.
I haven’t really followed the smash bros scene in a long time. I know the news has been out for a month or more, but learning about the isolation and challenges he endured is still really sad.
