Useless Classes, Training, Seminars, Etc

 I'm 62, and can look back over the entire era to note probably a hundred useless efforts to teach something of marginal or zero value.

There was the science classes between the sixth and ninth grades....where I could probably fill out a 3 x 5 inch index card with actual information retained.  I did note that the teacher tried every angle possible to skip the evolutionary chapter in the book....as each year passed, and I knew next to nothing about that point of science.  Luckily in the 1980s....I watched a few hours of PBS shows, where evolution finally was explained in detail.  

There was the continued Air Force training routines on chemical warfare....that occurred almost yearly (roughly 18 times over 22 years) and after about the fifth class....it was a waste of time.  

There was the sensitivity training that I got at the Pentagon, which didn't seem to really have any affect on me.

There was the three-hour seminar that the Air Force gave me once....on how to pack a pallet correctly, secure it, plastic-wrap-it, and ensure the warning labels were attached.  That was pretty much wasted because I was never supposed to be on any pallet crew.  

There was the Air Force seminars on 'I'm Ok and you are Ok'....which led to group sessions where everyone shared how they felt Ok.  I just kinda noted for the group that I was Ok before I came to the class, and was going to be Ok after I left the class.

There was the three-hour seminar where the Air Force taught me how to run the exercise bike and fitness-test people.  Over a three-month period, I tested forty people.  Every single smoker passed the test.  About a third of my test-crowd who were non-smokers....failed.  I could never get the base expert to explain why this occurred, and he would handle the failure folks on the second attempt.

There was a 8-minute explanation given on how to operate a forklift, and then 'Snuffy' signed off on my training package and I was Air Force-qualified to operate forklifts.  The rubber-wheel/steel-wheel roller?  That took twenty minutes to say I was qualified.  

I took an entire year of horticulture in high school.  To be honest, there's more or less nothing of value that I took out of the class.  Plants grow, and plants die.  The instructor ended giving me mostly B's but I have no idea how this miracle occurred.  

I took a class in logic (101) in college.  It was taught by some visiting Italian professor.  Around the third class, I got the impression that what I needed to know....mostly came from the Star Trek series, and watching what Spock said.  Beyond that....the class was totally worthless.  

I took a rock science course in college....taught by some nutcase dinosaur-digger professor who was in between digs in Montana.  It was mostly all worthless information but helped to fill my requirements for a degree.  I felt silly on the $120 I paid for the tuition (I think the Air Force felt even sillier because they paid $360 on their part).