Knife Skills

So as I was watching my banquet chef dice peppers tonight I thought, why can't all cooks perfect their basic knife skills. I am proud to say that I was put through the ringer on an equal sided tourne or 1/16" fine brunoise of shallots. I remember fluting flats of mushrooms and turning bunches of parsley into green dust. It seems like these pampered cooks who "never even worked the dish pit" want to take all the shortcuts. With the availability of pre-cut products or machines that julienne 50# of carrots in seconds what's the point of even owning knives. It kills me to walk up to a cook's station and use a dull knife. Do they really think that something presentable will be accomplished with that sad excuse for a chef's knife. Good knife skills come from sharp edges and loads of repetition. For all the chefs who read this please start reinforcing basic knife skills, because we are training the next generation of chefs.