Lacking Basic "Guy" Skills

[PAMom]

I have some pics of my boy (4 y/o) under the car with me changing oil, and wearing a welding helmet while I melted some angle iron.

I have high hopes for him. He didn't last very long on either project, but at least he was out there. I'll let him burn some wire next year if he wants to. He just likes to watch right now.

Good for you! That is where it starts, just letting him be with you whatever you are doing.

 

[cbseniour]

I once hired a college student to sweep out and clean in the body shop. He started sweeping in the center of the floor. He had never had to do this before and had no idea how.
We are born ignorant and if we aren't taught we tend to stay that way.

YOu guys who are taking your kids with you when you can and letting the watch or participate in what ever you are doing will be rewarded with kids who know how to take care of themselves and others. Kids who can think and solve problems. Nothing could be better.

 

[ATOMonkey]

The name on the outside of a college is over-rated IMO.

It really only matters until you get your first job. After that, no one cares where you went to school. They only care about what you know, and what kind of work you can do for them.

Shoot, even the letters on your degree don't mean much after you've been working for a while. We've got a civil engineer here doing design work on jet engines.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I got a job as soon as I was "legal" because I wanted to buy stuff. Been working for the same reason ever since.

It never once occured to me that people were just supposed to give me anything.

 

[tgallmey]

I got a job as soon as I was "legal" because I wanted to buy stuff. Been working for the same reason ever since.

It never once occured to me that people were just supposed to give me anything.

this

 

[Bapak2ja]

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).

My daughter got her driver's license later than most kids (18 yrs), just was not in any hurry to do so. Part of my job as her father was to get her set up to start working, to make her own way. I bought her a Nissan Sentra, used but good to go. High miles, but good engine, good tires, good battery; great gas mileage and low insurance rates. Something she could manage on a small pay check until she got something better.

It was a standard transmission. She was not trained to drive it yet, so I drove it home. I trained her on changing gears and was confident she could handle the car. I told her that before she could have the keys she had to read the manual cover to cover and change the tire on her own. She looked at me for about fifteen seconds to make sure I was serious and then went to get the manual. An hour later she brought it to me to quiz her on the contents. She had mastered the basics so I tossed her the keys saying, "Go change the rear driver's side tire." She never batted an eye, just got to work.

I took my coffee out the curb and watched her work. I had to remind her to use the star pattern to loosen the lug nuts, but beyond that she did a good job. A neighbor stopped by, offering to help, but she turned him down. (All the young punks wanted to help her! Long blond hair, blue eyes, killer smile—what would you expect.) When she had it on, I showed her how to use a lead pipe to get more torque on the lug wrench to tighten the lug nuts. She used that pipe to take them off and put the donut spare back in the trunk and re-mount the original tire. She even remembered to store the pipe with the lug wrench when she put everything away. I handed her the keys. The smile on her face, and the confidence in her voice, when she said, "Thanks, Daddy." was priceless.

Children need a father who does his job.

 

[jason765]

If you can't change your own tire, you have no business driving. These things should be part of the driving test.

 

[jason765]

My daughter got her driver's license later than most kids (18 yrs), just was not in any hurry to do so. Part of my job as her father was to get her set up to start working, to make her own way. I bought her a Nissan Sentra, used but good to go. High miles, but good engine, good tires, good battery; great gas mileage and low insurance rates. Something she could manage on a small pay check until she got something better.

It was a standard transmission. She was not trained to drive it yet, so I drove it home. I trained her on changing gears and was confident she could handle the car. I told her that before she could have the keys she had to read the manual cover to cover and change the tire on her own. She looked at me for about fifteen seconds to make sure I was serious and then went to get the manual. An hour later she brought it to me to quiz her on the contents. She had mastered the basics so I tossed her the keys saying, "Go change the rear driver's side tire." She never batted an eye, just got to work.

I took my coffee out the curb and watched her work. I had to remind her to use the star pattern to loosen the lug nuts, but beyond that she did a good job. A neighbor stopped by, offering to help, but she turned him down. (All the young punks wanted to help her! Long blond hair, blue eyes, killer smile—what would you expect.) When she had it on, I showed her how to use a lead pipe to get more torque on the lug wrench to tighten the lug nuts. She used that pipe to take them off and put the donut spare back in the trunk and re-mount the original tire. She even remembered to store the pipe with the lug wrench when she put everything away. I handed her the keys. The smile on her face, and the confidence in her voice, when she said, "Thanks, Daddy." was priceless.

Children need a father who does his job.

You should have showed her how to take that lead pipe upside the kid's head.

 

[actaeon277]

My daughter got her driver's license later than most kids (18 yrs), just was not in any hurry to do so. Part of my job as her father was to get her set up to start working, to make her own way. I bought her
....
When she had it on, I showed her how to use a lead pipe to get more torque on the lug wrench to tighten the lug nuts. She used that pipe to take them off and put the donut spare back in the trunk and re-mount the original tire. She even remembered to store the pipe with the lug wrench when she put everything away. I handed her the keys. The smile on her face, and the confidence in her voice, when she said, "Thanks, Daddy." was priceless.

Children need a father who does his job.

I agree.
And Good Job.

 

[hooky]

If you can't change your own tire, you have no business driving. These things should be part of the driving test.

When I took drivers ed in HS way back when, we had to change a tire as part of class. No big deal, we were a bunch of farm kids. But those that weren't, learned. My instructor, who was also my English teacher and kept the stat book for football and baseball, would tell us to drive to such a place and back. He'd be asleep before we got a mile away from school. We'd hit the local restaurant at our turn around point and get him some coffee in a go cup. I can't imagine doing that now. Most schools don't even offer drivers ed now, do they?

 

[Lucas156]

I think it's a combination of no father figure, not many willing to teach and many are not willing to learn. Most people don't commit to being lifelong learners because that is not the path of least resistance. More people would seek out training if they opened their mind to new ideas and be willing to change and accept that they don't know it all. Sometimes it's hard to admit that you're wrong or don't know. In the old days if someone turned out bad it was their fault. Nowadays we blame the parents. The truth is, it's each individual's responsibility to learn new things not blame their parents for lack of knowledge. Many parents are great parents but still have one kid out of the batch turn out bad. Why is this? It's because that kid is his own individual person who made those bad choices. The parents may have had some influence but once someone turns into an adult they have to make their own decisions.

 

[churchmouse]

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.

In this I see the mentality that it is OK to purchase the cables....."USE" them and think it is OK to return them. Knowing full well the folks in the store saw you doing this. Why should he have to actually pay for a product or a service call. That sets my hair on fire.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

In this I see the mentality that it is OK to purchase the cables....."USE" them and think it is OK to return them. Knowing full well the folks in the store saw you doing this. Why should he have to actually pay for a product or a service call. That sets my hair on fire.

When I worked on the retail side of parts, this is so common. Get a piece back covered in oil or reeking of gas, "I never installed it." No, you put it in and it didn't fix your problem. Now you want to return something that I can't resell or return to the manufacturer. You expect me (my store) to eat a $300 fuel pump or whatever.

 

[churchmouse]

When I worked on the retail side of parts, this is so common. Get a piece back covered in oil or reeking of gas, "I never installed it." No, you put it in and it didn't fix your problem. Now you want to return something that I can't resell or return to the manufacturer. You expect me (my store) to eat a $300 fuel pump or whatever.

People are nuts. And stupid.

 

[churchmouse]

When I took drivers ed in HS way back when, we had to change a tire as part of class. No big deal, we were a bunch of farm kids. But those that weren't, learned. My instructor, who was also my English teacher and kept the stat book for football and baseball, would tell us to drive to such a place and back. He'd be asleep before we got a mile away from school. We'd hit the local restaurant at our turn around point and get him some coffee in a go cup. I can't imagine doing that now. Most schools don't even offer drivers ed now, do they?

No, they do not. The parking lot at my old school is a barren waste land. It was "FULL" of cars when I went there. The street was full of parked cars and if you were late or 2nd period you parked on a side street as the lot was full. Times have totally changed with busing.

 

[jblomenberg16]

When I took drivers ed in HS way back when, we had to change a tire as part of class. No big deal, we were a bunch of farm kids. But those that weren't, learned. My instructor, who was also my English teacher and kept the stat book for football and baseball, would tell us to drive to such a place and back. He'd be asleep before we got a mile away from school. We'd hit the local restaurant at our turn around point and get him some coffee in a go cup. I can't imagine doing that now. Most schools don't even offer drivers ed now, do they?

I realize this is a necro thread, but your drivers ed teacher sounds just like mine? I think back then (mid 90's) most of us had been driving long before we were able to do so legally, so the Driver's Ed teacher probably realized that for some folks only minimal instruction was needed. School's definitely got out of it as it was too expensive (and probably too much of a liability) and have since turned it over to private companies to do. That's not entirely a bad thing, as it does relive the strain on the school system budget. Does anyone know if the BMV still requires an actual driving test to obtain a license, or it is only the written portion these days?

 

[Lucas156]

If you go to drivers ed and pass the driving part there(three tries) you only have to do the written test.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

My offspring (nearly 19) is on a permit (!) and yes, he has to do the driving test. I think he'll do fine, keeps to speed limits, pretty conservative (nothing like I was) but I could never get him to show any initiative to take driver's ed. They do have it at CHS.

 

[scoutsniper]

i have seen many young drivers who shouldnt be behind the wheel. espcially texting and driving. **** is scary to watch sometimes.

i got my liscence on my 16th birthday then went to the drag strip with my dad all day. on my 17th birthday we rebuilt the 355 chevy small block in his vega twice!! (to much clearance on crank bearings FML) ive watched youtube and did my own clutch install, heads, cam, exhuast, intake on my LS1 Trans Am. i am so glad my dad showed me how to do the stuff as a kid even though i ***** about doing it all the time. i hope to do the same for my son or duaghter when i have one. right now im teaching my wife lol!

i just did drywall that me and my dad learned at the same time haha. you can teach a dog old tricks if its from another old dog.

like most have said though from talking with my freinds and coworkers (im 23) most think its below them to get there hands greasy or dirty and rather just shell out money and still be just as ignorant on how to fix it. i love saving money and learning how to fix stuff. means more money for ammo!

 

[BiscuitNaBasket]

When I took drivers ed in HS way back when, we had to change a tire as part of class. No big deal, we were a bunch of farm kids. But those that weren't, learned. My instructor, who was also my English teacher and kept the stat book for football and baseball, would tell us to drive to such a place and back. He'd be asleep before we got a mile away from school. We'd hit the local restaurant at our turn around point and get him some coffee in a go cup. I can't imagine doing that now. Most schools don't even offer drivers ed now, do they?

No, they do not. The parking lot at my old school is a barren waste land. It was "FULL" of cars when I went there. The street was full of parked cars and if you were late or 2nd period you parked on a side street as the lot was full. Times have totally changed with busing.

I graduated from Franklin Central High School in 2008. The several month long Driver's Ed class cost me $300. Although it was lacking some basic skills, it was well worth it and left me prepared by the time I took my test at the BMV.

As for a inner city school in Marion county I can't speak.