that's hilarious!

one thing I enjoyed when I was visiting England - the dry sense of humor. even the London cabbies came across as more articulate and witty. LOL

I do think the American education system has gone into a deep dive. When I've talked to older people, particularly when I was in my 20s and would talk to elderly neighbors - they were much more well read, had a deeper understanding of history and politics, etc., than those who were born after about 1980.

A friend of mine who was a college professor in the '90s commented on this - he had seen the decline in his incoming freshmen even back then and it's only gotten worse. Most of my older friends know who Boris Johnson is (and Nigel Farage and Gordon Brown, for that matter) as well as other leaders such as Angela Merkel and Narendra Modi. Once upon a time, this was actually pretty common among Americans.

Back in the 1950s, mechanics and gas station attendants also read Popular Mechanics and Scientific American, built model rockets and other devices using kits like Heathkit... back in the 1920s, Nikola Tesla was a celebrity. Now? People know more about Kim Kardashian than any notable statesman, scientist or author.