[itsoktocry]

>if they didn’t know the answer, they would send me to somebody else

That sounds like the ideal response, doesn't it?

We talk about kids not being prepared for the real-world, and this seems like a good example. The first student graduated high-school with a 4.0 GPA, but can't figure out what classes he should take? Some of us went to college pre-email; there was no way to communicate but going office to office to resolve issues..

If I had to guess, the low college completion rate and "employers [being] “lukewarm” about the quality of community college students who do manage to graduate" both stem from grade inflation.

[jollyllama]

Yeah, pretty much. It turns out earning top marks at taking orders for 12 years doesn't equate to the ability to identify challenges, think outside the box, and execute.

>That sounds like the ideal response, doesn't it?

Ideal would be like a competent concierge, but that simply doesn't exist for the non-wealthy.

[ghaff]

Broadly speaking, a lot of people have either never known or (speaking for myself) have largely memory holed how terrifically difficult it was to connect to the one person who knew the answer to something or to get information about most things generally.

The details don't matter but years ago we had some international family financial transaction that needed an appropriate stamp from someone. A notary wasn't good enough. I was sort of out of options at that point until someone pointed me to one our executive admins who knew what was needed. Today the answer is probably a Google away.