Background/Education/Einstein

[j.sabourn]

I have noticed at various times it has cropped up at various times re. education and how things may have been different with a different education during our earlier years. I also have said that the M.N. was the one employment which was open for anyone to advance as they wanted, which I still maintain. A lot of us came from a working class background, and that includes myself. However myself as others seem to have had this inferior complex which sometimes takes years to overcome and was probably the Class system in the UK which I maintain is still there today, but not so open as it used to be. I remember when up for one exam (and the navigators reading this will know what I am talking about) was a composite Great Circle from Liverpool To New York. After the exam we were all comparing the distances etc. this one character an ex public school boy stated his distance was over 6000 miles, my own intelligence should have told me he was wrong, but due I suppose to my feelings of inferiority I concluded that I must be wrong and this arrogant prick right, however it turned out he was wrong and I passed , he failed everything. I think this was the time I lost any feelings of inferiority. Another time which was more embarrassment than anything was one of the very few times we ate in the saloon after the officers had left, the steward asked me if I wanted a sideplate, I had no idea of what he was talking about as was always a teaplate to me. We all learn as we get older and wish we could go back and try again. However I have no regrets on going to sea. There may not be any Einsteins amongst us, but at least we have taught ourselves when necessary, and hopefully enjoyed life. Cheers John Sabourn.

[happy daze john in oz]

It is all very well being very clever, but I am of the opinion that common sence is of greater importance. We learn as we go through life many things which we find useful, but at school we were bombarded with information that for many of us proved to be of little use during life.

[j.sabourn]

Public school here in Oz is the equivalent to a council school in uk. Public school in uk is the likes of Eton and all the high paying institutions of so called learning. Was trying to emphasise that some of these so called highly educated twits are in a lot of cases lame brains. A good example of this is some of our so called pollies. Cheers John Sabourn.

[Jim Brady]

When I was officers steward on the Emp of Britain most of the officers would ask for help with the menu.If they did'nt know what it was they would ask,the steward appreciates that and is only happy to advise.You would get some officers from time to time who did not like to admit that they did not understand the menu and would not ask the steward for advice as he considered himself more intelligent than the steward.One such person was a 5th mate from the NE Coast,boy could he eat he would go through the bill.He would never ask for advice so one particular meal I decided not to give it because of his arrogance.He ordered Scotch Woodcock as his main course with a couple of veg potatos etc.For those of you that dont know Scotch Woodcock is a round piece of toast the size of an old penny,this is topped with scrambled egg and two anchovie fillets placed on it like a cross.I placed it on his plate (silver service) and built up around it veg spuds etc.I went and stood by my dummy and was looking away from him but due to the fact there were mirrors all around the saloon I could observe his antics. He eventually called steward havent you forgot something I ordered Scotch Woodcock,I went across and pointed to it and said to him,there it is hiding behind that boiled potato.The stupid B said oh thats right I did'nt see it there!!!!.The moral of the story is "IF YOU DONT KNOW ASK" that way you wont make a fool of yourself and get educated at the same time.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[robpage]

As I have said before here the eleven + and thirteen + exams that gave a route to grammer schools was a supurb system , that grammer school route , let to university and then beyond . I organised a school reunion a few years ago and hte one big surprise as that the girkls , some who were the top academics in our year had not made fantastic progess in their carreers . One of the teachers summed it up in a concversation that evening , he visited a parent of a very bright girl . Her father said he would not waste money sending her to university as she will get married and have kids soon , so education was a waste of time and money and the girl is better off with a job . That girl had 9 GSEs at A Grade , she worked as a shop assistant , married and had kids , what a waste because of an oppressive father , this as 1964 , not 1924

[alf corbyn]

eleven plus. never had it.

an eleven plus question. a vertically challenged man came out of his flat on the eleventh floor, got in the lift went down to the ground floor and went to work. came home at night, got in the lift got out on the eighth floor, walked up three flights of stairs to his flat and went in and shut the door. why?.

[Jim Brady]

He was a midget,could'nt reach the button.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Lou Barron]

As Happy Daze Johns says common sense is the main thing i remember a old seaman said to me on one of my first trips Look ,Learn and Listen How true

[happy daze john in oz]

eleven plus. never had it.

an eleven plus question. a vertically challenged man came out of his flat on the eleventh floor, got in the lift went down to the ground floor and went to work. came home at night, got in the lift got out on the eighth floor, walked up three flights of stairs to his flat and went in and shut the door. why?.

He was a short a**se

[happy daze john in oz]

Speaking of exams, I did the eleven plus and went to a technical school. If you did well it was to a grammer school, not so good then to a secondary modern school. Technicla schgools were something of a new idea in the mid 50's. You had a choice once there, building or electrical engineering, I chose the latter. Afetr five years there was the GCE to see if you could go to university. We did something called the RSA exams. Could have gone to uni according to the head master, now reffered to as principals I hear, but decided I would rather work instead. I have found the university of life to be the best place of learning, far better than Eton, Cambridge or Oxford. There they learn by reading such subjects as maths, history, English etc. My mate makes a living by reading meters.