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You're missing the point. I make good money, so I have a choice whether to pay someone to do something, or do it myself.
What happens if a person loses their job, or money becomes tight?
Having the knowledge to do something and being able to decide whether they want to pay for it to be done or do it themselves gives you a leg up on someone who has no choice but to pay.
A lot of blue collar type trade workers can charge exorbitant pricing for some things because there's just not as many people out there who can do that stuff anymore. In some cases, they're charging hourly rates that a lawyer would be happy to receive.
I'm on several neighborhood forums/boards like Nextdoor, etc. Some of the things I see posted I find absolutely ridiculous, like, "Who can I hire to install a ceiling fan?" Or, "Need an electrician to install a light switch." They end up paying a couple hundred bucks for something that they should know how to do. Saw one woman post about getting a ceiling fan installed, it was a $150 fan and they paid over $200 to get it installed because her husband didn't know how to do it either!
Or people who pay a plumber $400 to unclog the bathroom sink, including sending a camera into the drain to look at the clog, when a $2 strip of plastic will clear the clog and you don't need to see it to clear it.
There are some things I'll pay for because I can't do them, like a foundation repair or complicated air conditioning repair. There are other things i'll pay for because they're too much trouble, like replacing a part on a car that's in a spot impossible to get to without a lift.
You're missing the point. I make good money, so I have a choice whether to pay someone to do something, or do it myself.
What happens if a person loses their job, or money becomes tight?
Having the knowledge to do something and being able to decide whether they want to pay for it to be done or do it themselves gives you a leg up on someone who has no choice but to pay.
A lot of blue collar type trade workers can charge exorbitant pricing for some things because there's just not as many people out there who can do that stuff anymore. In some cases, they're charging hourly rates that a lawyer would be happy to receive.
I'm on several neighborhood forums/boards like Nextdoor, etc. Some of the things I see posted I find absolutely ridiculous, like, "Who can I hire to install a ceiling fan?" Or, "Need an electrician to install a light switch." They end up paying a couple hundred bucks for something that they should know how to do. Saw one woman post about getting a ceiling fan installed, it was a $150 fan and they paid over $200 to get it installed because her husband didn't know how to do it either!
I think you are missing the point. If money becomes tight or someone is inspired to change a light switch on their own, they can learn it from a book or a youtube video. Parents don't have to teach a kid every potential life still to be doing a good enough job.
P.S. I learned how to change light switches from a home maintenance book. If we have changed our own in apartments, they would have had cause to evict us because doing your own electric or plumbing work was not allowed.
Or people who pay a plumber $400 to unclog the bathroom sink, including sending a camera into the drain to look at the clog, when a $2 strip of plastic will clear the clog and you don't need to see it to clear it.
There are some things I'll pay for because I can't do them, like a foundation repair or complicated air conditioning repair. There are other things i'll pay for because they're too much trouble, like replacing a part on a car that's in a spot impossible to get to without a lift.
Exactly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird
I think you are missing the point. If money becomes tight or someone is inspired to change a light switch on their own, they can learn it from a book or a youtube video. Parents don't have to teach a kid every potential life still to be doing a good enough job.
P.S. I learned how to change light switches from a home maintenance book. If we have changed our own in apartments, they would have had cause to evict us because doing your own electric or plumbing work was not allowed.
Not the best way to learn things, and certainly sounds like an excuse to me.
These seem like basic things that kids will pick up just through observation and sharing a home and life with their family. I don't really know how a child wouldn't learn the basics such as preparing simple meals, cleaning up after themselves, laundry etc.
Even if they don't pick up on these things as kids it seems like they would be able to figure things out as an adult. If you can read a recipe, you can cook. Laundry doesn't have a very big learning curve either. Maybe you end up turning your whites pink once or twice but eventually you figure it out. If my kid was grown and taking classes on how to make grilled cheese, I would be laughing because it would be that ridiculous. Watching videos to cook? Sure, why not, it's not that different from reading a recipe. Most of what I learned about cooking was through observation so I can see how that would be helpful.
^^This. They'll learn way or another, just as every generation preceding them has. So what if they learn through a less organic method, via instructional videos?
More of a lament that there are so many young people out there today who don't know how to do anything.
Nah, they know how to do stuff. It's just may be different stuff than you know. You know, the kind of stuff many people call the Geek Squad out to take care of. A good chunk of my young adult son's friends (as well as my young adult son in law) are "car guys" (by hobby not by trade). Many have ME degrees, a couple kept themselves flush in HS and college buying up used lawnmowers and snowblowers to clean up, fix up resell. One keeps bees as well. A couple do a bit of their own organic gardening. Sounds to me like you don't actually know many young adults.
There's been a huge decrease in the amount of people who can "do" things vs having to call someone to do it for them.
Not many people can change their own oil anymore. Not too many people know to change their furnace filters. Very few people know how to change their own locks when they buy a new home. Almost no one knows how to install a ceiling fan or change a wall socket or light switch without killing themselves.
Handy people were a dying breed even among my generation (I'm 40.) It's only gotten worse. I have a daughter, and I will be teaching her a lot of the things I know how to do, because when I'm gone, I doubt whoever she ends up with will know how to do them.
I've saved so much money over the years by knowing how to fix things, troubleshoot, etc... and it's put me on very sound financial footing at this stage in my life. I hope I can convince her that she needs to know this stuff too, so she won't have to pay someone all the time to handle it for her.
I don't know if there's been such a huge decrease. My mom made almost all her and my clothes back in the 50s/60s; she was one of a few who actually did that. These days, it's usually cheaper to buy everyday clothes than to make them.
My father was a mechanical engineer who never changed his own oil-too busy, again, back in the 50s/60s. In his free time, he had other things he wanted to do. He freely admitted electrical work was something he did not know and didn't want to mess with and screw up, only to pay someone even more money to fix it!
You're missing the point. I make good money, so I have a choice whether to pay someone to do something, or do it myself.
What happens if a person loses their job, or money becomes tight?
Having the knowledge to do something and being able to decide whether they want to pay for it to be done or do it themselves gives you a leg up on someone who has no choice but to pay.
A lot of blue collar type trade workers can charge exorbitant pricing for some things because there's just not as many people out there who can do that stuff anymore. In some cases, they're charging hourly rates that a lawyer would be happy to receive.
I'm on several neighborhood forums/boards like Nextdoor, etc. Some of the things I see posted I find absolutely ridiculous, like, "Who can I hire to install a ceiling fan?" Or, "Need an electrician to install a light switch." They end up paying a couple hundred bucks for something that they should know how to do. Saw one woman post about getting a ceiling fan installed, it was a $150 fan and they paid over $200 to get it installed because her husband didn't know how to do it either!
There is no way for one person to know how to do everything. I can't change my oil or sew, but I can cook ok, most of which I learned on my own, not from my parents. I can unclog a a drain. My husband has become a wiz at installing blinds and ceiling fans. No one taught him. He learned himself. No one person will ever know how to do everything and that's ok.
One of the best things our kids can learn is not to invent stupid terminology that creates yet more expectations for people to stress out over. "adulting" "healthing" etc.
Bah humbug
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