When did we stop "doing"?

[Scott Watkins]

"Lack of "doers" is a "result" of the real problem: Lack of Parenting! Been happening for 40+ years........"

AMEN!

[madmmac]

I think it is really based on your parents...even if as a child your parents were well to do, they could have still instilled a good work ethic in the child.

My daughter is a full time college student. She also has 2 part time jobs. She can change a flat tire, change most of the bulbs on her car, check and put the right fluids in the right holes, check and put air in the tires and so on. She taped and painted her own room. She volunteers at a hospital. Her and her teammates qualified through the local, then State competitions and earned the right to go to the World Finals in the Destination Imagination(DI)Destination ImagiNation - The Organization program 3 times, placing no worse than in the top 15 in the World each time. She went to Junior College on an athletic scholarship. She has now been offered a paying position as an Assistant Coach there. 3 other High Schools also recruited her to coach.

My son is in high school and has been by my side for all types of mechanical, house and landscaping adventures. He just changed out the electric pto clutch on my riding lawn mower yesterday without any supervision. As I type this, he is on the business end of the weed eater. It will take him about 4 hours to do what I asked him to do. He knows that if he does not do a good job, he will be doing it again. I know he will do a good job, but I will still check..and he knows that also. He had a job but he quit do to unfair treatment. He had made his concerns known to the highest person at the business and things did not change, so he quit. I told him that there could be possible fall out when trying to get other jobs because he quit. He figured his best course of action would be to write a letter to the corporate office with his concerns and why he did not want to remain employed there. They reprimanded the business, he was offered his job back(he declined) and he was given a letter of recommendation from the corporate office. He also was in the Destination Imagination (DI) program. His team did make to the World Finals one time and they placed within the top 15 in the world.

There are many good, creative, driven and talented kids out there, you just have to look. The DI program is pretty much available anywhere an adult can supervise. Go see a local or State competition. If you really want to feel good about the youth in America, go to the World Finals in Knoxville. You will see around 5,000 amazing positive hard working kids.

If you have kids, the DI program is a great way for them to learn so many lifelong lessons. I have managed teams and I now am an appraiser at the local and State competitions....as is my daughter. If you have any questions about the DI program you can PM me.

[island911]

meh. . same as it ever was, if you ask me. It's just that history rarely focuses on the losers.

But, carry on with your high standards not met by others...


btw, Home Depot is huge with the tag-line "More Doing"

carry on...

[Superman]

Whoa! Island. You're calling BS on whiners and gripers. There is hope for you, it seems.

[Zeke]

AFA the educated entitlement argument, I have observed several young grads (friends of my stepson) take jobs at fairly low pay right out of school. But, they do expect the big bucks and are not patient as our grandparents had to be. So, they jump ship often and in less than 10 years they have jobs as VP's in smaller companies or even higher paying, lesser titled jobs in Fortune 500 companies.

So, they kind of set the tone for that thinking. Now that these kids are reaching age 40, they are pulling down some huge money relative to "starting out." I don't think that's gonna change, so I think the ones eager to get started at any salary level are the ones that are gonna see the most earning potential.

What that has to do with any of this, I don't know.

[techweenie]

I'm not a parent, so put what follows in that perspective.

When I was growing up in the 50s, children were not the center of the universe. There was stuff made for us, but activities and products for the "grown ups" took precedence. Parents didn't arrange play dates or do much -- if any -- chauffeuring of kiddies. You wanted to play in the park, you did so. Wanted to go on a "bike hike;" you did it. Mom & dad might or might not ask what you did during the day.

Today, and for the past couple decades, kids are the center of the universe. Parents sacrifice their time, attention and leisure to the service of children's issues and activities.

As a result, you hear stories in the business world of 20-somethings having little allegiance or commitment. They do not feel badly if they miss a deadline or don't show up on time. And they *will* leave when they feel it's time; not when the tasks are done. They are literally the weak link in the chain. I've heard of parents -- mothers, mostly -- showing up to ask why their kids haven't been promoted(yes, this has happened!).

Because for the past 20 years, every child has been "special." Their every whim and mood has been important. And the explosion in child-focused marketing and entertainment has made billions. The biggest expansion has been in passive entertainment. Activity like playing in the park can't be monetized the way a video game or TV show or movie can. So actual physical activity has declined overall (a generalization, but obesity rates reflect this) and the world becomes a passing array of images and sounds requiring minimal involvement. If there is no pleasure linked to the tactile activity of sawing a board or tightening a bolt, then fewer and fewer are drawn in to that type of physical interaction with the world.

We have a generation and a half of "judges" of activity -- expert observers who really aren't much good at "doing."

[Superman]

I ate breakfast and went outside. I came home when it started to get dark, and I noticed I was hungry. I was low-maintenance and self-entertaining. Still am.

[strupgolf]

Good point Techweenie. When I was growing up, my parents did their thing and I did mine. Everything was not revolving around ME. and I din'nt object. I was in my own world, learning and looking, without my parents judging me by my every move. I became my own person.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by strupgolf

Good point Techweenie. When I was growing up, my parents did their thing and I did mine. Everything was not revolving around ME. and I din'nt object. I was in my own world, learning and looking, without my parents judging me by my every move. I became my own person.

I think when you become the 'center of the universe' you begin to expect everything to bend around you, and may be willing to just passively let that just take place, rather than grabbing hold and doing it yourself. Happily, there always will be exceptions. But believe me, organizations like SEMA are making a major effort to attract the younger generation to pick up a wrench.

[strupgolf]

In my small town, I don't see many young people interested in cars or such. Back then, when my friend brought a '58 Triumph and put it my garage, I was hooked. The car was a junk, but it had potential, and that's all we thought about.

[VaSteve]

Tech....I wouldn't dare let my kids go to the park alone. Not these days. I wish I could, that's how I grew up, roaming all over the world. Society used to "sort out" the perverts and weirdos. Now, with the internet, they have places to hang out and find out they aren't so different. One thing affects another...

[Tim Hancock]

Other than tire mounting/balancing (someday I WILL have my own machines), In the last 15 years I have only paid for any type of service repair a few times.

I paid a relative to re-shingle our house (he needed the money although I had prior roofing experience).

I paid a couple times to have my airplane's avionics repaired (it is not legal for me to fix them myself and I do not have the manuals/test equipment to do the job).

I paid a neighbor to dig up a plugged tile with his backhoe.

I (my wife) paid a carpet installer.

I am proud of the fact that I have fixed/maintained/built/restored everything else myself which includes an old house on 9 acres, multiple airplanes, cars, tractors, motorcycles, ATVs, etc etc. I could not afford to have 1/10 of what I own free and clear if I was not a DIY person.

There will always be people like me who enjoy the challenge of fixing/restoring stuff, but the DIY mentality is long gone for the majority of Americans who are no longer learning basic mechanical skills at their jobs. IMO, the main reason for this is that companies have been over regulated by OSHA, EPA, labor laws etc to the point that they can no longer use manual labor to manufacture goods, so they go overseas, automate or go out of business. I see no end in sight to this trend.

[lane912]

Originally Posted by Superman

I ate breakfast and went outside. I came home when it started to get dark, and I noticed I was hungry. I was low-maintenance and self-entertaining. Still am.

this too was my childhood-
along with taking things apart to see how they worked, this eventually lead to getting them back together and working.
my brother has a son, that is kept at home and can only venture outside when accompanied by adult because there are bad people out there waiting to hurt him. this appalls me to no end.
the boy is encouraged to play video games as it is a "safe " activity

one day the boy wanted to know about firearms, I answered questions and allowed him to see, not touch a rifle. last time I spent with my nephew unsupervised

[ronster]

We stopped "doing" and started whining when PARF was created.

[slakjaw]

Originally Posted by nostatic

I'd like to keep this out of parf. Been looking around at the world and I am thinking that our problem isnt left or right, but rather that we no longer are a nation (world?) of doers. Instead we watch. Watch sports rather than play them. Watch politics rather than participate. Dispose instead of fix (machines and people).

Maybe we've always had the same percentage of doers (they're still around) and watchers but seems at some point the world tilted. Has the criticisms of tv when it first arrived on the scene finally come to roost? Or are we just doing different things now, living in the digital world?

When everything became illegal.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

Tech....I wouldn't dare let my kids go to the park alone. Not these days. I wish I could, that's how I grew up, roaming all over the world. Society used to "sort out" the perverts and weirdos. Now, with the internet, they have places to hang out and find out they aren't so different. One thing affects another...

IMO, the dangers are the same now as they were in the 50s. Only now, the TV has told us the world is a scarier place.

Kids used to fall off bikes in the 50s, but that was acceptable risk. No helmets. Kids used to fall off unsupervised playground equipment, but that was acceptable risk. Bullies beat up the smaller. weaker kids, but that was how life was. Pedophiles were out there, but kids were not expecting to be driven everywhere or taken care of by adults, so the pervs and weirdos didn't have as many tricks in their bag.

No, I don't believe the world is a scarier place than in the 50s. I think we have become more frightened as a society.

I don't remember hearing the word "scary" very much as a kid. Today, it's in every newscast.

[slakjaw]

When did we stop living? Most of the people I know around my age do nothing other than work 9 to 5 come home, smoke weed and go get wasted at the bar. Wash rinse and repeat day in and day out. Many of them have never traveled very far from home and almost none of them have been out of the US. They have no hobbies no dreams no plans on where they want to end up.

When did the programming start to make us good little corporate drones?

[VaSteve]

Tech, its not just the TV, its the schools too. The kids know they arent supposed to be alone...ever.

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by VaSteve

Tech, its not just the TV, its the schools too. The kids know they arent supposed to be alone...ever.

I guarantee you that pressure came from the parents. Programs about "stranger danger" have been created by demand, not by dictate.

All I'm saying is that I was brought up in the land of the free and the home of the brave, and it seems to me kids are currently being brought up in the land of limits.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by techweenie

I guarantee you that pressure came from the parents. Programs about "stranger danger" have been created by demand, not by dictate.

All I'm saying is that I was brought up in the land of the free and the home of the brave, and it seems to me kids are currently being brought up in the land of limits.

Your posts have been excellent...well done.

Timidity is a creeping vine, human kudzu.