Yet another reason why newspapers are dieing

I feel like I am having an old moment. A what's the matter with kids today moment. Because I am stunned and a bit concerned at the total lack of interest in the world. In well everything, except for the few things that concern just them. Not even that really, a total lack of curiosity about the world.

Went to the computer repair store to pick up the laptop today. Had to wait just a bit as the computer was locked up and the manager was at the bank. Started to engage in small talk with the employees in the store. This was a mistake, as none of them had the slightest idea what was going on in the world.

Of the five people in the store (all under the age of 28) only one of them had heard about the death of Nick Adenhart and he only because he watched last nights baseball game. The employee had no idea how he had died, or any information about him. Without the moment of silence before the game, he would not have heard about him at all.

The guy considers himself a major baseball fan. More of a fan than I am even (he's not) but, he was not concerned enough about who he was to even find out about him. I asked the person if he had looked up information about him, after all, the guy mentioned he was listening to the game on the computer. He said he figured if it was important, someone would tell him. And I did, so now he knows who Nick was. But was he interested in taking the step to find out himself. Nope not at all.

Then I asked if if least any of them had heard about the semi local man who had been taken hostage by pirates. Since all five of them looked at me and said "PIRATES where?" I took that as a no. I did a quick review; Somalia pirates, shipping lanes, Mass Maritime, Bainbridge. And they responded with blank looks. I got to asking a few more questions, just to sound out how deep their lack of knowledge went.

It went deep, real deep. The entire staff was of the opinion that the world is on a need to know basis, and they don't need to know. Frankly, it was embarrassing to me that they knew so little, not to any of them however. Not one bit.

The person who checked me out had a small child, a two year old boy. She did not know anything about issues in Malden with the possible changing of the school day, or laying off teachers. She did know that a Nickelodeon tv character review was coming to the Boston Garden soon. Ya, real useful stuff there, and she clung to that as being knowledge, knowledge she could use.

How did this happen, we have a world of information at our fingertips, and have raised a generation that has no use for it. They don't care, and don't care that they don't care. Okay, that one made no sense, sorry. You would think that my grilling them on world events would bother some of them. It did not.

It bothers me. A world of information at our fingertips, and the most uninterested generation ever.