The word "ON";- American Comprehension Vs. Demonstration of "ON"

Yesterday, I was at the gym near a US Military Base. I had about 45 min to use the Hot Tub, Sauna, and do a 30 min. cardio workout. I was in the hot tub that I turned on for water-jet massage. Within 8 minutes, FOUR other people entered the room. Despite a sign saying Press button once to turn hot tub ON, Press button to Turn hot tub OFF, all four of them failed to check that the hot tub was ON. They all pressed the button, turned to enter the hot tub, then seemed to realize the water-jet sound had Stopped. They then returned to the button on the wall and pressed the button to turn it back on.
Being that they all stopped and restarted the hot tub in a 3 minute span, I concluded that NONE of them actually could demonstrate reasonable cognition that the HOT TUB WAS ON IN THE FIRST PLACE. And, this was across an demographic of diverse backgrounds who could afford to pay dues at a gym.

Then, I think about more complex issues and realize why I am drowning in the USA social environment of Ignorance.

Conversely, there are people in the USA who I have hired (thank you Philadelphia!!!) in the past who were not Immigrants, clearly had little literacy, yet were able to perform a simple task such as setting tables with an array of cutlery, negotiate transportation, as well as more comprehension and demonstration of much more complex functions. These people were not able to afford gym membership to my knowledge, as in the above "ON" incident.