Lacking Basic "Guy" Skills

[hooky]

I'm always amazed at the number of people I come across who have no concept of basic mechanical & everyday skills. I call them guy skills, but they're really skills that everyone should have a grasp of as they go about their lives.

My latest was this evening. Coming out the local CVS, I put my bag in the back seat of my car and hear a woman calling out, "Sir. Sir can you help us?" I hear a boys voice saying the same thing. I'd seen them when I pulled into the lot. They had their cars grill to grill with the hoods up and jumper cables draped between them.

The kid's little crossover SUV had a dead battery. He had them hooked up correctly to her car. On his however, he had the ground on the strut holding up the hood. They'd had it hooked up for over 15 minutes and all it would do was click when he turned the key. I helped him understand what he needed to do differently and explained to her what we were doing and why. He got it started and then almost immediately turned the key again. It freaked him out and he shut it off.

We got him going again and I told him the correct order for disconnecting everything. He thanked me and then said he was going to take the jumper cables back into CVS to see if they'd give him a refund. I casually mentioned that cables might be a good item to keep in his trunk. He decided against it.

The lady thanked me for helping and said she had been scared when the kid first approached her, but he looked helpless enough.

Why can't parents teach their kids these basic guy skills? This kid probably couldn't find his butt if he was sitting on both hands. It's tough to feel sorry for them, but I always do in the end.

Sorry for the long winded story, but I wanted to get it off my chest while fearless leader is talking about taking care of everyone even more.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

I would think at least one out of two people (both drivers) would know how to jump a car ....

 

[hornadylnl]

I was jumping my aunts car and had it hooked to my truck. Her battery was completely dead and had cheap cables so it was taking awhile to jump. She took the leads off her battery, touches them together and asks if they're working when there's no spark.

 

[The Stig]

A very long time ago I was helping a younger buddy of mine with his dead battery. He popped the hood of his truck and I noticed an amazing amount of corrosion/acid on the battery terminals. I told him to go inside the building where we worked and get a can of Coke and put it on the terminals. In the meantime I walked away to get my jumper cables and returned a few moments later. I asked him if he had put the Coke on the terminals and if they appeared to be any cleaner. He immediately looked puzzled. When I went to look again under the hood, the can of Coke was sitting squarely (and unopened!) on top of one of the posts/terminals. I laughed for a minute or two and then demonstrated what I meant for him to do...

Fizz, fizz.

 

[hopper68]

You might be surprised at the number that do not know how to change a tire or even check their own oil. Schools need a LIFE BASICS 101. Teach car maintenance to making a budget and balancing a checkbook.

 

[K_W]

I've worked retail auto parts for the last 6 years, very little surprises me anymore.

 

[sepe]

You might be surprised at the number that do not know how to change a tire or even check their own oil. Schools need a LIFE BASICS 101. Teach car maintenance to making a budget and balancing a checkbook.

I don't know if the school needs to teach it. I think it is something that parents should be doing. Then again, with the amount of clueless people in the world...maybe the schools should teach it.

 

[actaeon277]

I agree, parents should teach it. But the parents don't know anymore.
Kids are now trained to be "Professionals", doctors, lawyers, office workers.
Don't get me wrong, we need them. But we still need "workers", mechanics, carpenters, etc.
I think anyone with a car should know certain basic skills. But they just give away licenses (driver's).

 

[SideArmed]

The best times I can remember as a kid, were with my dad under the hood of a '69 Mustang. I learned more about life working on that old car with my dad, then I ever did in school.

I have to say that not a day goes by that I don't use some bit of knowledge that my father taught me while we were working together.

 

[sepe]

The best times I can remember as a kid, were with my dad under the hood of a '69 Mustang. I learned more about life working on that old car with my dad, then I ever did in school.

I have to say that not a day goes by that I don't use some bit of knowledge that my father taught me while we were working together.

I remembered learning more about swearing than I did working on cars if my dad was trying to do something. It is something that I use daily. Good thing there were Chilton's and other manuals laying around the garage and at grandpa's.

 

[bwframe]

There's an app for that, right?

 

[hooky]

There's an app for that, right?

I didn't have my light with with me, so I pulled my droid out to use the flashlight app to make sure they had everything connected correctly. As soon as the phone cleared my pocket, he asked if was going to google it.

 

[The Stig]

The best times I can remember as a kid, were with my dad under the hood of a '69 Mustang. I learned more about life working on that old car with my dad, then I ever did in school.

I have to say that not a day goes by that I don't use some bit of knowledge that my father taught me while we were working together.

I hear what you are saying.

My dad and I spent alot of time together working on a '72 Monte Carlo.

I was so much into that car I remember breaking out the bumper jack and changing the tires for practice just to show him how fast I could do it.

That car was so much fun to work on and drive. I'd give anything to have one of those days back with Dad and that car.

 

[theweakerbrother]

I'm guessing that most of you learned your manly behavior from your positive fatherly figure. You are in the vast minority as society has (de)evolved in the family unit and too few families have a great male role model. It is the ultimate responsibility of the individual to be a well-rounded individual (quoting Heinlein), but shame on anyone thinking less of a person who didn't have this behavior passed on because of how weak society has become.

Carry on with random acts of kindness!

 

[Guardsman89]

Go to prison and offer free mother's day cards; all the inmates will take one. Do the same thing on father's day and hardly anyone will respond. There is an epidemic of failure in fathering in our country.

Our safe was stolen from the church this week. I'll bet it was taken by some guys with cruddy fathers.

Want to prevent crime? Find a young boy without an active, positive father figure in his life then invest your time and money in him. You'll likely get better returns on that investment than many of the other things to which you devote yourself.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Here's my take on this.

Basic guy skills are gone because they have been eliminated from society as a necessity over time. When we were kids, how many of your Dad's or Grandpa's worked on their own cars, did their own electrical, mechanical and plumbing work, did wood work, framing, home remodeling, gardening, etc....? I bet most did. The next generation found it easier to pay for someone to do those things because they had more disposable income than their parents or grandparents. Guy skills were a necessity the generation before and an inconvenience in successive generations. Today most people don't know where to begin because their parents paid for those things to be done and they were never exposed to having to do it themselves. They never learned or acquired those skills and had no interest to do so.

Dirty Steve

 

[MrYesterday]

My step-father raised me with the mindset of "if you want to use it, you have to know how to operate AND fix it". I had to know how to learn gun safety and cleaning before I was allowed to shoot. I had to restore, do all of the maintenance on, and learn to drive (to his satisfaction) my first car. If I wanted a tree house, he taught me carpentry skills, and how to make things structurally sound, and square, instead of just throwing up a few sheets of tin or plywood. When I got a dog I had to pick up it's excrement, trim it's nails, walk it, feed it, ect. When I wanted to hunt I had to learn to field dress and butcher. People only learn half of a process now. If I do something I want to know it inside and out. So many are satisfied with the end result that they fail to appreciate the what it entails. My step-father made me the well rounded (Well, not physically rounded, that's the fault of my culinary arts degree) individual I am today, and there's not much better a gift that a father figure can give. Kids now think it's cruel to be taught things and not just have it handed to them... my kids (my wife is pregnant with our first) are going to hate me for making them learn (like I did my step-dad at first), but in the end they'll have the survival skills they need to be confident in this world that's falling into ruin.

 

[Scutter01]

You might be surprised at the number that do not know how to change a tire or even check their own oil. Schools need a LIFE BASICS 101. Teach car maintenance to making a budget and balancing a checkbook.

Schools do teach it. It's called "Home Ec" and "Shop Class", but there are only so many hours that they can dedicate to them and you obviously can't cover everything. My home ec class in high school taught basic cooking, sewing and budgeting skills. I still use all three skills today.

 

[MrYesterday]

Problem with home ec and shop is that they aren't requirements everywhere anymore. Kids can just take a language class and bypass any fundamental skills. I think male and female students should have to take both. That way boys can learn to cook (instead of just microwave and burn on a grill) and girls will have basic auto, carpentry, trade skills (so they don't have to rely on us so much).

Though, on second though my wife thinks I'm a master mechanic, electrician, carpenter, ect. and if she knew how to do what I can she might not need me anymore...


Shop for boys and home ec. for girls!!!!!

 

[churchmouse]

As long as we and "fearless leader" take care of these poor mis-guided and under trained people this will only get worse. Most folks only know what hole the gas and the key's go into. Beyond that there is warranty and AAA, yes. Some of these folks are armed and that scares me.
Standing at the counter of the Local gun store/range waiting to check out and observed a woman looking for her first fire arm. Long story short she walked out with a weapon that she obviously could not operate or shoot properly. Clerk over sold her with no training or explanation, she did not step into the range and use it. I offered some of my time to instruct her but she said it was fine and left un-trained and dangerous. I admonished the clerk, he blew me off and I left understanding the idiocy of the general public. Same deal with the batt. jump only different.