More Than Half Of Young Americans Surveyed Have Never Seen A Cow

I don't really consider myself a worldly person, but I've done most of the things on this list.

As reported by the Travel and Leisure website, a survey of young Americans aged 11 to 24 for the travel website Parked In Paradise has revealed some startling results. It seems there are a few items they really should add to their lifetime bucket list.

Before moving to the great state of Texas I grew up in the midwest. Cows were everywhere. They were either raised for beef, milk, or a 4H show, but they were everywhere. Apparently not everyone had that rural middle America upbringing. Chick-fil-A mascots notwithstanding, in the survey of more than 3,500 people between 11 and 24 years old an astonishing 54 percent of them said they had never actually seen a cow in real life.

Some other things that our kids have not done yet include visiting another country. At 24 or younger, that's not too surprising and they'll have lots of time for travel as they live their life.

Perhaps on their travels they can check another item off their list. Something like actually sending something via snail mail. 13 percent of them had never done that. They could buy a postcard and send it to themselves. That way they'd get to experience both ends of the process.

58 percent reported having never done a DIY project. I'm not sure if one of those 'Some Assembly Required' items purchased at IKEA or Walmart counts as a DIY project, but that one actually surprised me.

43 percent say they've never gone hiking or camping. While sad to hear this, if the survey was conducted with mostly big city kids it's not all that surprising.

19 percent say they've never actually cooked a meal from scratch. It seems delivery directly to your door is too enticing to actually set about cooking something for yourself.

In another shocker, a full 27 percent report never having seen a sunrise. What? Nobody ever dragged them out of bed in the dark of night to get on the road for a family vacation before dawn? None of the older kids in the bunch ever stayed up all night and watched the sun rise the next morning? It's not like it doesn't happen every day, they've had multiple opportunities. Besides, you can always crawl back in bed after seeing it if you really want to.

Somebody needs to get these kids out of bed early and take them cow cuddling, or at least to the nearest petting zoo.