Paper job applications asked for a social security number when my kids applied to local jobs.
I told them to leave it off.
If and when they got hired they could give it to the HR person with the payroll forms.
Yes, I routinely write N/A and have never been pushed to supply SSN.
When kids were in HS, S once used his first name and last name as they were supposed to be when registering for a College Board exam. For some reason, once when he registered, he reversed his name and put his surname where his first name should have been. He only discovered the error when he got the scores. We tried calling the College Board to merge the records but they said no, impossible. We went to the private school guidance counselor who had a special phone number to College Board (for counselors I’m guessing) and voila, problem fixed!
S paid a lot more attention in completing subsequent forms. We had visions of having to pay duplicate fees to get his scores sent to the Us he wanted to apply to! It was pretty nerve-wracking at the time.
Neither of my kids knew their SSNs for decades and only now that they’re 30/32 have finally stopped panic calling me to get it.
We have AAA for ourselves and the kids – no none of us have ever changed a tire and wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so even if we’d learned at some point and had a spare in the car. In any case, one of my D’s called AAA to jump her battery and texted me to ask if she was supposed to tip the AAA guy. Made me laugh (internally), AND feel badly I hadn’t taught her some basic info but that led to a discussion about who gets tipped and who doesn’t…the lines aren’t as clear to articulate and defend as one might think!
I know I’ve posted this before, but it seems appropriate for this thread. I can’t remember the details, but my very smart high schooler was going to boil water. He got out a Pyrex measuring cup, placed it on the stove, and turned on the burner. I guess I never taught him to boil water 
@collage1, I recently posted a question about tipping housekeeping on this site, and many people didn’t realize you’re “supposed to.” Tipping is one of those grey areas I think.
My S decided to make shortbread once. He definitely didn’t understand the concept of gradually adding flour and mixing it in. It was NOT any shortbread any of us have had before or since.
S was panicked when I was visiting and decided to make all of us dinner in his never or rarely used instant pot. (I had only used an instant pot once—my BIL’s) and had made a fabulous soup that time. The dish I attempted in S’s instant pot also turned out great—chicken with black mushrooms and Chinese sausage.
D moving into her first apartment
“mom, my landlord is making us pay rent with checks. Where do I go to get checks??”
Followed 5 days later by
“Mom, can you please mail me a stamp?? I have to mail the rent check”
I was not taught to change a tire. When I was in my early 20’s and one of mine went flat on the interstate outside DC, my options (pre cell phone era) were to figure it out or hope that a stranger would stop to help and not be an axe murderer. I opted to change it myself (With my hatchback fully packed and a bike rack on the rear, no less). I looked up tire change in the owner’s manual, tried to do the first step, couldn’t do it, and cried. Tried again and did it. Same thing for each of several subsequent steps; each time, I succeeded on the second try (after crying) and I got my spare tire on. And I learned why highways have such broad shoulders — for crying on!
I got AA for both my kids. And they have both needed it.
The story of the son boiling water reminded me of the day D21 decided to make doughnuts. She was in middle school. I was not home. DH was home but working on his research. D proceed to make a ton of very messy, sticky dough and distribute sugar and flour amazingly far away from the kitchen.
Unfortunately, we only had extra virgin olive oil, but D figured oil is oil. She wanted to make a lot of doughnuts, so she put a lot of oil in our big spaghetti pot The smoking point of extra virgin olive oil is not high.
In seconds, the entire house filled with smoke and the alarm started going off. Minutes later the fire department rang the doorbell (hats and boots and everything!). DH still wasn’t sure what had happened and made D explain. The firemen ended up being really nice about it, but the experience definitely made D a more cautious cook:wink:!
Every company I have ever worked for ran a criminal background check, requiring a SSN, before any offer of employment. I am surprised some employers do not.
However, that does not require getting the SSN on initial application. The employer can ask for it only when about to make an offer, or make an offer contingent on the passing the background check using it. I.e. only the 2% or whatever applicants who get to that stage need to provide SSN.
It comes up pretty early in the screening process at my company. We can not waste time with applicants who don’t pass a background check, so anything that delays that, including no SSN, would be disqualifying, and we would move on to the next applicant. Faster and no follow up required.
When our microwave broke, my daughter was completely flummoxed about how to warm up the soup. The blank, confused look on her face when I suggested she just warm it up on the stove was priceless. Remedial Cooking 101.
Of course, this is the also the same girl who couldn’t figure out how to open a shampoo cap. (And she’s my STEM kid…although clearly not in mechE!)
Fun thread to read! Some skills will fall by the way side for sure…I wrote a check the other day and definitely had to think about how to write out the amount!
My 14 y.o son didn’t understand why we can’t have the same radio channels when we are 3 hours from home. But it was a good physic lesson for him.
“You know nothing, Jon Snow!” is what I said to him.
Back in the Stone Age, I think most of us learned to change a tire.
Here is my first tire change story.
We were out on a Friday night with a friend who had a GTO. Tire went flat right next to a friends house as we dropped him off. Well…the dad came out to help us (thank goodness), and as he tried to loosen the lug nuts, each one broke off. Of course this meant we couldn’t change the tire. He drove us home, thank goodness, and the dad of the kid who owned the car had to have it towed the following day.
So much for knowing how!
This thread makes me laugh every day!
My son can iron (music major), but my daughter sends things to the cleaners. Whatever. I should add…she didn’t learn to send things to the cleaners from us!
I always had an idea of how to change a tire from watching my father do it, but my first hands-on experience was my very first actual driving lesson. Teacher and I went out to the vehicle and found the flat. He quickly revised the lesson – “this is a great chance for you to learn how!” Did the change himself but made sure that I understood and followed along as he explained.
One of our sons is a go-to for public transportation; he happily served as info provider when brother’s flight turned into a bus ride. Other one does his 1040 by hand and, for a complicated inheritance issue, drew up a flow chart that he shared with the family.
We don’t iron. I starched and pressed my husband’s uniforms for decades – all those gussets! all those curved seams! – and when a general told me about the new no-iron ones coming out I almost kissed him on the mouth.
Due to the independence gained from four years of boarding school and the demands of the military, our son is not deficient in any life skill (he’s a fantastic chef, can build a car from the ground up, irons a uniform to perfection, and even has personalized stationery and a stamp dispenser for handwritten notes and letters) but, boy, do I wish his eyes could be corrected to detect squalor. He knows how to clean up, but his sense of when certainly leaves something to be desired. Any of you CCers who have a single daughter skilled in that department, feel free to PM me.
Is the goal to help him clean up, or teach him to clean up?
Teaching didn’t seem to help. He does know how. Maybe he just needs a maid.
Talking about skills-my male cousin had a stroke at the age of 45, and after rehab, he had to take a skills test to be allowed back to work as a surgeon. One of his tasks was to light a gas stove; he rarely cooked and never with gas. He was not able to get the stove lit and his wife tried to explain that that was not something he could do pre stroke, so didn’t expect him to know now!