Common Sense

Now on to this week's topic: Common sense, two little words that mean so much. Everyday you have to use common sense in your life. Even your littlest decisions require some input from the common sense gene. So, how do people get through their lives without it?

Here's an example that really put me in total awe. Saturday I stopped down to see a friend's daughter who is having computer problems. She'll remain nameless since this whole situation should never have occurred since this girl has graduated from UW Madison in pre-law.

I ask her, what seems to be the problem with the computer? "It's running slow."

Is your virus protection up to date? Her response: "What's virus protection?"

My response: "You have got to be kidding me. How old is the computer? Has it ever asked to update anything? How can you not know what virus protection is?"

"Yeah, maybe I should learn something about that. I'm so dumb with stuff like that."

NO! You're really lacking common sense. Any 8 year old can tell you what virus protection is! On any given day the biggest article in the news is a big computer virus coming to wipe out half the world's computers. You would think you'd have some concern if you owned a computer.

I have her virus protection up and running now on her computer, the trial version (Expires in 3 months) that originally came with it. It was never activated so she's been running her computer since day one without protection. I found one virus, about 75 spyware/adware programs. Other than that, it was just fine without the virus protection.

I know that my kids may not be the best students in the world at times. But my wife and I also know they work hard in school and try their bests to improve their grades everyday. I'd like to think that the common sense that they have developed and continue to develop will make up for any shortcomings they may have with the "book end" of things. My son recently had a report due asking three lessons he's learned in his very young life. Being 12 the first two were rather modest but insightful. His third answer: "Don't eat yellow snow." I would hope he got an "A" on the project..

Our nation continues to churn out college graduates that in all reality aren't very smart at all. You find any old farmer around the state of Wisconsin and ask him about vet medicine, construction, wiring, welding, crop management, faith, finances, or vehicle maintenance and you'll be impressed with his knowledge. He probably has just a high school diploma, but he'll be able to tell teach you things you could never learn in school, things that can only be learned by living life.

Unfortunately, such an emphasis is put on being book smart today that most people overlook the other sense that needs to be developed. Maybe it's time that colleges stop teaching classes that have no bearing on life. Do I really need to pay $9000.00 a year for my kid to learn about "Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles" as being taught at University of Wisconsin Madison?

No, I think I'll just send them down to my uncle's farm for a better education.