Screw you, College Board
In the U.S. school system, high school kids rely on strong SAT scores for university acceptance. Until recently, this meant 800 points for math and 800 for verbal skills.
It was a strange system. A student could receive top marks in one category, fail the other and the lopsided genius would end up at the local community college.
It all makes sense now. They were trying to tell us, “You need both math and verbal skills to survive in the real world!” Wonky brains won’t work if you need to switch sides and tip the pizza boy or write a birthday card. So, College Board, I finally concede that I do need mathematics to finesse daily life.
But my math skills only take me so far (usually to the door, with the pizza). We creative types know to hire an accountant or financial help when needs soar beyond our algebraic reach. The converse does not seem to hold true for the math-brained world.
My exhibits A, B and C
This email
The 2 HSBC bank managers (two!) who asked me how to spell Shanghai.
“What does HSBC stand for?!?” I asked, incredulous.
“Why, the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank!” They answered by rote.
“Uh huh….”.
*Blank stare*
“S-H-A-N-G….”
And OnlineMarketer, who will only trust his money to a bank that can handle high school English.
Final score: math geeks 0, cool kids 3
College Board, could you please do some follow up? It seems your left-brained champions need a refresher in their verbal aptitude.
Yea, yea, yea… in 2005 you added a writing section. Too little, too late! Your negligence means there are generations of untested, unashamed illiterates out there.
I think the math crew needs to retire their spell check and give one of us a call.
Related post:
12-step programme: stop killing the apostrophe
