The skills of our younger generation. Or should I say...
 

..the "lack of"?

I spent the past two weeks teaching a structural collapse rescue course to a group of city firefighters. Majority of the class were 20 and younger 30-somethings. Most had a couple years on the job. A couple younger new hires. While I am honored and truly enjoy being able to be able to teach and pass my skills on to up and coming firefighters, it was a pretty disturbing experience in a way.
The course is pretty tough and can be dangerous at times. If you screw up, you can seriously injure or kill yourself or someone else. So you need to be alert and on top of what your students are doing at every moment during live exercises.
While most of these guys were smart, what myself (and the other instructors..) found troubling was #1,the lack of experience with simple tools, and how to use them. #2 and most importantly, the inability to figure out a problem and overcome it and perform the task safely even as a group.
We had a guy that at 27 yrs old, had never even set foot on any type of ladder until two yrs ago at the academy. Guys couldn't drive a nail. Another, held a circular saw for the first time in his life the other day. He was terrified of it. I understand not everyone grows up around tools and that atmosphere but come on, some of it is just common sense. One guy almost put the tip of a jackhammer through his cheek because he wouldn't follow directions.
Problem solving and critical thinking were out the window. Again, most of the exercises required the need for basic common sense and logic to perform them safe and correctly. Some of these guys were beyond dangerous because, they just couldn't figure stuff out on their own. I cant tell you how many times we had to jump in and stop them and say " WTF were you thinking??". Plus the fact that they are quick to toss in the towel and cannot deal well with criticism.

I really hope that this isn't a trend.

Sorry end of rant. Now get off my lawn!


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don't fret Vinny..
your local Para's need training..
hook-up with your counterpart..
when your boys blow it..
his will fix it..

Rika

I just watched a 25 year old hammer a nail. He just about held the hammer by the head. He may have well used a rock. One of my young eng.

He was too smart to watch me do the rest of them after I coaxed the tool away from him.

Vinny,
I'm 100% with ya on this. Sadly, it's not just basic tools kids lack these days. My recent experience:

Bought something at a store. Total came to $15.41.
I gave the young guy at the register $21.00.
He looked at me as if I just handed him a manual for a UFO written in Martian.
I told him to input the numbers into his register.
He then saw that by giving him $21.00, the change would be $5.59.
He seemed to have gotten it -- I wanted one $5 bill, instead of four $1 bills.
He then proceeded to hand me five singles and 59 cents!
Argh. I just took my change and walked away...

Remember folks: this is our nation's future. Be scared. Be very scared....

Every man should learn or be able to do the following:
1. Do basic arithmatic in their head
2. Effectively use a hammer, saw, screwdriver, and other hand tools.
3. Backup a trailer.
4. Build a fire,light it, and keep it going using one match.
5. Determine if a four-sided structure is square using only a measuring tape
6. Determine if a wall is plumb.
7. Determine if something is level using a clear hose and water.
8. Wire a three-way light / install a light fixture.
9. Open an old-fasioned (non-twist) bottle without using a bottle opener
10. Climb a tree
11. Throw a ball. (Scary how many men can't even do this!)
12. Cook basic meals
13. Iron a shirt
14. Use a fold-up map
15. Figure out basic directions (N-S-E-W) using the movement of the sun
16. Catch a fish
17. Spackle a hole in a wall / put up sheet rock
18. Drive a manual transmission
19. Shoot a gun
20. Un-clog a toilet / snake a drain


-Z

But I bet they all can use a keyboard....

Watch Steve Martin in ''Roxanne''. There is always a learning curve.

Tell me you were all mechanical geniuses when you got your first 911. ;)

The reasons posted by Vinnie are why I am showing MY kids(son and daughter) how to the basic things. My kids will not be "those ones" in the future.

Son clogs the toilet, I show HIM how to plunge it. And, for the love of whatever you beleive in, you don't need 10 yards of TP.

I showed him how to sharpen a camp hatchet using my bench grinder this weekend. Why? He thought that is was ok to try to chop cement with it.....

It probably gets old for them but anytime I do a task that I think they should learn I have them watch and then help me.

When I was still on the service truck, I had helpers that had never run a cordless drill or power tool of any type.
I guess it is a generational thing. Most of our dads worked in the garage on various projects from keeping the car running to wood working and renovation projects.
As we move further away from a marketplace that makes things and sells them to one that simply purchases products produced abroad, I don't see it getting any better.... Most people have no interest in doing anything for themselves and pay to have things done for them.

I will admit I have not had to back up a trailer very many times and am not very good at it. I bet that it wouldn't take me long to figure it out with some practice...

Backing up a trailer is fun. I learned it early.

Fixings flat. I get waved at every single day by some motorist with a flat. I drive a State truck. Alarming how many abled body men doing the pleading wave.

21. Tie a square knot.

I have to thank my father who got me started.

I remember getting a basic tool box as a Christmas present one year when I was very very young. Contained pliers, hammer, screwdriver(s). Then later on in my preteens came the Craftsman tool set....with THREE different drive socket sets (1/4", 3/8', and 1/2")! Whoa....that was the year Baz became a REAL man!

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I used to be a part time woodshop / Construction instructor in a local high school, don't get me going on this. Problem solving is not taught in schools or by parents anymore. Like everything, you must follow the rules and are not allow to think outside the box. I hate to have my neighbors, many of them are younger hipsters wearing their girlfriend's tight jeans, help out should anything major happens. How are hell are they going to save anyone in those tight jeams should a a major earthquake occurs. Their fence board breaks, they call me because they do not have a hammer and don't know the best way to perform the repair. I hand them a hammer (22oz checker faced hammer) and tell them to get some nails. I get this a couple of times, " wow, it so heavy".

When I visit my daughter and son-in-law, my daughter always has a list of small, usually simple things to fix...some as easy as a battery in a key fob...Others as complicated as an auto accessory or lawn mower not starting. I am always surprised that my 30-something son-in-law doesn't hang around and watch so that he will know how next time (that is how I learned from my father-in-law)...and surprised that he is not somewhat embarrassed. Neither ever crosses his mind. He just walks off. At first I expected him to return, but when I go in, he is watching TV. It seems generational to me. You just pay someone else to do stuff for you.

Z, iron a shirt, WTH? That takes me about 1 hour.

1. Reboot a computer
2. Coordinate an outfit
3. Bum a ride
4. Send an instagram
5. Find an Orange Julius in any mall in America
6. Recite any scene from any "Twilight" movie verbatim
7. Sleep 12 hours anytime, anywhere

My younger son is 6, and we build a bird house the other day. I held his hand and used a table saw to cut the roof to this little bird house. Oh, he knows how to use a hammer all right. A nail was driven into every wooden object in the back yard.

Don't forget how to wear that bennie half way on their heads where it sits just right.

They are really, really good at video games though..............

I always wanted to do projects with my dad when i was a kid, bird houses, home made flashlight etc... He had tools and I was never restricted from using them.

I owe a lot of my mechanical aptitude and home maintenance abilities to him. I am chomping at the bit to buy my son his first set of tools and he's only 10 months old.

Actually, I should take back the snarky snark that I posted...

There are a few things that I have difficulty with on that list of 20. Math and N•E•W•S are two things that I struggle with always