It happens every generation I am sure. I don't necessarily think that my generation was the best one. I actually think far from that and think that my generation was a bit lost as well because between everyone I knew growing up compared to their fathers, the practical knowledge didn't get passed on to my generation for most of us. I made out better than most because I come from a redneck-ish family and not learning about construction, general repairs, mechanics, gardening, and outdoors life was not an option. I guess I just had a good upbringing because my father was able to make these things seem fun and it was almost a reward of sorts. Because of this parenting I grew up learning things that I ended up using for the remainder of my life at least up to this point and I ended up working in construction management and can fix almost anything... just like my Dad.
For most of the people that I went to school with though, this was not the case and it was evident when I was in college where almost everyone I knew had no idea how to work on a car, repair even the simplest of things, and most people didn't even own any tools. When I look around at the new generation of teens that I encounter out and about, I fear that this knowledge is even less common if it even exists at all.
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Again, I want to emphasize that I am not trying to suggest that my generation was better but I will say that when it comes to being able to do practical things for yourself that the young generation that we have in USA right now don't really seem to know how to do anything except for stuff that I would consider to be quite useless. They are VERY good at using their phones and dealing with apps that I have never heard of and the only reason why I know that is because one of my friends has a couple of teenagers who are still willing to talk to their Dad's friends and they are always showing me stuff on their phones that I have never heard of and I pretend to be interested. I am sure they pretend to be interested in what I am talking about as well though.
The other day I was driving somewhere and I saw some teenagers that were pouring gasoline into a car that had run out of gas and they were pouring it from a plastic water bottle and while that is fair enough because perhaps they didn't have anything else to put the gas in, it was nighttime and they were illuminating the gas tank by using a damn lighter. Now I don't expect anyone to be a genius, but every single one of these kids likely had a phone in their pockets that has a flashlight feature but one of the geniuses of the group was perhaps trying to be a showoff and be daring or something but I pulled over to help them out of fear that they were going to accidentally detonate the car and kill everyone.
As soon as they saw my rather gigantic work pickup truck they put the lighter out because they no longer needed the illumination thanks to my headlights but when I approached them they seemed a combination of afraid and annoyed that I was interrupting their "progress." When I told them "you realize that gasoline is extremely flammable right?" they responded as if I was the idiot by saying that they were holding the lighter really far away so that it wouldn't ignite. I was going to inform them that the fumes of gasoline are far more flammable than the liquid is and how far you have it away from the liquid doesn't really matter as much as you think but I thought better of it because I don't think they would have cared that I am indeed very correct about saying this.
Another time I was driving down the road and a group of 3 teenage boys were messing about trying to change a tire on the side of the road. It was evident to me that none of these 3 lads had any idea how to change a tire and this just kind of made me sad. If there ever was just ONE THING that every man should know how to do it is how to change a tire. Thankfully I got there when I did in the process because they were preparing to put the scissor-jack (and I hate those things) and brace it not on the frame but on the body of the car. If this method of their succeeded in elevating the car at all it would have been only for a little while before the weight ripped through the body and perhaps injured anyone who was near the tire.
Rather than do the job for them, I coached them through the process and this time the kids were less bratty and seemed genuinely thankful that I would help them. They said they had been there for a while and this was on a relatively busy street in New Berne. Nobody had stopped to assist and that just makes me fear not just for the young but for all of humanity. Do we just not help out strangers anymore?
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In my mind I don't expect people to be able to change the settings on a timing belt, but the simple process of changing a tire is a skill that I think everyone, especially men, should have.
While I was talking to both of these groups of people it came up in the conversation about whether or not they had AAA and maybe a lot of you that are not Americans have never heard of it either but I was a bit stunned that out of these 7 people, none of them had any idea what it was. One of the girls that was a bit snotty in the first group made a snarky remark about how they are not old enough to be alcoholics yet and I pointed out that Alcoholics Anonymous only has 2 A's in it, not three.
To me these two instances just showed that today's youth are quite happy to not know about really anything and this worries me about what their children are going to be like. These people aren't going to have anything to pass on and perhaps that is their parents' fault to some degree. Someone had to point out to them the importance of knowing some practical skills and I am very grateful to my parents that they understood this and passed the knowledge on to me.
So if you are a younger person out there that doesn't know what to do with your future, what to study etc. I think it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have a look at going into auto mechanics. As the people of this world continue to know less and less about how to repair their own vehicles, you are basically guaranteed a good living by going into this field.
This really resonates with me! I've noticed the same thing with younger generations. I'm doing my best to ensure my two kids don't end up like that. They're 5 and 3, and both of them love to help out. Whether we’re working in the garden or doing simple repairs, like fixing the garbage disposal, building our retaining wall, setting up the trellis for our dragonfruit, repairing the sprinkler system, or installing drip irrigation, they're actively involved and eager to help. Or even just letting them explore my tools while I am with them.
you had me at retaining wall... haha. When I was in my late teens I helped my father build a retaining wall that might be the most physically powerful structure in all of North Carolina. If it was a bunker, it would be bomb-proof. We had a lot of fun building that thing and over-reinforced it kind of as a joke. That thing, unless intentionally removed by a lot of excavator work, will be there long after we are all gone.
That is great you are doing that with your kids. You are an exception and an exceptional parent.
It shouldn’t be the exception, but unfortunately, it is. Beyond being beneficial for kids, it’s a fantastic way to be actively involved and spend quality time with them. I really don’t understand why so many people have kids and then seem to want so little to do with them if it requires any effort.
I beleive I am around your age, and I grew up in a redneck-ish small town. Yet my father couldn't fix anything mechanical, nor could either of my brothers. So it's not just the kids of today, but rather more of a class thing. My father was a college professor. My mother, on the other hand, was very crafty. She gardened and preserved and sewed and cooked. She knew home remedies for illnesses. She made slip covers, curtains, and toys. I learned all of those things from her.
I'm so thankful that my daughter, from a very early age, has pursued carpentry, and is now well employed in NYC as a carpenter. She has a fabulous tool collection and can fix most things. While her friends in other, more sedentary fields (mostly "health" or banking related I've noticed), were searching far and wide for entry level jobs after college, she got a great job in a split second in NYC of all places. Your advice is excellent. We sure could use more car mechanics! And far fewer doctors.
Oh I bet that is a very lucrative job in a place like NYC! I don't know anyone that went into trade skills and took it seriously that isn't immensely successful these days. I do know a ton of people that I went to college with that even have masters degrees that seriously struggle to find any sort of meaningful work and almost none of them work in the field that they graduated in. If people are smart, they will pursue real life skills at a community college rather than going to an overpriced indoctrination station that we know as 4-year universities.
My daughter went to an overpriced indoctrination station that teaches life skills, sterling college in vermont. It was quite a great place. she learned how to plow fields with teams of oxen, care for horses and other livestock, grow food, spin wool after shearing the sheep, and the like. Not so much building, but certainly some along with general woodwork. She learned carpentry on the job building greenhouses. I'm very proud of her!
These are fantastic life skills even though I don't think many people are actually going to need to ever spin wool. If nothing else that would be a wonderful conversation topic and would really stand out on a resume. If one came across my desk at it said they know how to yoke oxen and spin wool I would take a step back and say "seriously? that's amazing."
I would be more inclined to call someone in for an interview with these line items rather than their GPA in a degree program.
Me too! And I was in the restaurant business! It's outside of the box that I appreciate. So needed nowadays. We're largely all the same now, useless eaters of a sort.
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STOPIf I had to I could change a tire, having done so on three occasions from my teens to my thirties. But now that I’m an old fart with a AAA card, I’d have someone with functioning knees do it for me. 😅
AAA really is a good value even today. You get one tow and it pays for the annual fee right there.
My Bonnie leaned over the gas tank,
The height of the contents to see.
She lighted a match to assist her,
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me!
A morbid parody of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean from my youth. Author unknown.
I like it!
Every generation seems to be getting more and more hopeless and it is my generation in charge these days and they are as woke as hell. This is not surprising considering they have bee molly cuddled since birth and most have never really had to work that hard. They complain more than they work and why other people work harder to cover their slackness. The youth of today are 90% unemployable because they do not really want to work and they think hard work is beneath them and they are a class above.
well the people who decide to take on the jobs that actually involve practical work are the ones that are going to have true job security. I know guys that work in oil in gas not in an office, but actually in the field, and these guys are in high demand and their salaries are much higher than the middle managers that are technically in charge of them. If you were to talk to any of them they don't have a financial worry in the world, get tons of time off, and also at times seem dumb as bricks. They know how to do their jobs though and are well paid for it.
I have a ton of regrets about the knowledge that I basically actively avoided as a kid. My father grew up on a farm so naturally, he knew how to repair almost anything. He attempted to pass this knowledge on to me and my siblings but all but one of us basically treated his attempts and passing the torch as an annoyance rather than the loving care that it was. I now know how to repair almost nothing and it was right there for me to take if I has simply been willing to listen. The same goes for my mother and cooking. She really wanted to help us to learn but same thing, we all just kind of ignored her. Now I can barely cook an egg and I feel terrible about that.
I agree with you about trade skills. I went to college twice and have 2 degrees and I wouldn't say that I am a master of anything including what it says on my degrees.
That's a shame. Is it too late for you to learn from him now?
Probably not but he lives really far away from me. I live in Vietnam and he lives in North America. Can't just pop by for some knowledge.