![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:22 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
I went to go look at a bike yesterday for a friend. We knew it had a bad battery,
so I brought along a jump box to be able to cra
nk
it over
. I went to remove the seat and asked the owner for an allen wrench
*blank look*
“Allen key? ”
*blank look*
“hex key?” “hex wrench?”
*a quick glimmer of understanding* and then he produced this
I quickly showed him the fastener
“Something that goes in there”
He didn’t have one, so he called over his neighbor. I went through the exact same discussion and got the exact same blank looks from her . I finally just said “do you have an Ikea wrench? The little tool you use to make I kea stuff?”
“ Oh, Yes!”
She disappears
for a bit and comes back with...
one.
.. allen wrench. Thankfully most I
k
ea stuff is 4mm, the size i needed,
so I was able to get
the first layer of paneling off. I then needed a 6mm allen to remove the seat and access the battery. I told the guy
“I need this (handing him the 4mm allen), but bigger”
I then watch him try at least 2 other neighbors, neither of whom had ANY allen wrenches. He eventually comes back with... one. .. allen wrench. This one was a 5mm (or some non metric equivalent)
“needs to be a bit bigger”
He disappears
for a time again and returns with...
one.
.. allen wrench. This one was close enough to the right size to make due, at this point I’m 20 minutes in to a 1 minute task.
We ended up not buying the bike, was a bit rough for the asking price, but I’m
still floored. This guy seemed like a totally functional adult, yet had not even the most basic knowledge of tools. How does this happen?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:27 |
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Not everyone cares about tools or fixing things. Doesn't make him non-functional, just disinterested.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:30 |
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“Who’s allen?”
is something I’ve heard before
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:31 |
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Same way a functional adult doesn’t know what kind of car they own.
Don’t know, don’t care.
Like Sovande said many people have many different interests.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:31 |
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That’s ok. I have some tools I use that I don’t know what they are called.... and I’ve been doing this for 20 years.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:31 |
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I guess I don’t associate that level of disinterest with
motorcycle ownership. Unlike a owning a car it does require at least basic mechanical knowledge.
Just struck me as really weird, or maybe my friend circle is a bubble
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:32 |
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“But I’ll never have to work on my own stuff, so why would I need to know about tools?” - an idiot who saves money by assembling their own furniture and doesn’t spot the contradiction.
Okay, I’ll cut the the one
neighbor more slack for keeping the wrench just in case, but you know the first guy and the other neighbors have done IKEA before.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:34 |
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I have found attempting to describe things to my non-technical wife, the easiest way is not to use the name, but to google a picture of it on my phone and show that.
Works for tools, specific car makes/models, and celebrity faces.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:36 |
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My wife was visiting an Aunt. Aunt at the time h
ad a useless live-in boyfriend. While Mrs McMike was there, she helped her aunt organize closets, kitchen cabinets, etc….
Her Aunt had a drill, but very few bits. Mrs McMike was texting me, sending me photos with the shelves, hooks, and anchors they bought at the hardware store. We discussed the construction of the doors, walls etc.. We even video chatted so she could run the install past me to see if she was on the right path. She was.
All while the boyfriend just sat and watched.
They were talking about drilling holes in the door for the anchors, and had the anchors and bits laid out on the table trying to read what size the bits were, and realized (of course) they didn’t have the one 1/4” bit they needed.
Aunt said, “Ooooh, I think (next door neighbor) has some.”
Everyone pauses.
Mrs McMike looks at the boyfriend and suggests he goes over and asks to borrow one. Reluctantly, he gets off his ass and goes next door.
Dude came back with a 4” hole saw.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:37 |
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I guess that’s fair, but even among my non technical friends, everyone has a basic $20 multitool set for basic home repairs and stuff. I didn’t think it was possible to not have one.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:37 |
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Counter point:
How does a functioning adult not know how to operate the parking brake in their own car?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:38 |
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I just find it hard to swallow that a person could own something like a motorcycle, and yet be unable to start it because its battery was dead and the only access was behind a panel, which required a tool that they not only don’t own, but can’t even identify. That part is kind of amazing to me. That strikes me as about one step above changing a light bulb.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:39 |
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“oh, it’s in park”
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:39 |
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I’m impressed that you thought to ask for an Ikea wrench, I probably would have just washed my hands of the thing after the first incredulous look from the owner.
I guess it is true that there are adults that honestly have never touched anything mechanical in their lives, but like you’d I’d still be pretty shocked when coming across one. I feel like even people that grew up like that would start learning once an adult with a house and an internet connection, but I guess not.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:40 |
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I prefer Ted wrenches myself.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:42 |
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Sounds like they need a dose of James May’s Man Lab.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1750269/
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:42 |
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I grew up in a Midwestern middle school where every kid either took Industrial Arts or Home Ec. So, even if your dad didn’t come from farmer stock like mine did, you at least got some basic education in these things.
I don’t think that’s a standard in education anymore though.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:44 |
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Mechanical Engineer: I and all of my friends know what tools are, why don’t random people?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:45 |
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We’re a different breed my friend. Many people just throw things out when broken or pay someone to fix them.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:45 |
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Yeah, like if I was out picking up “dad’s old bike that’s been sitting for years” it would be one thing.
But the
guy apparently owned and rode this bike.
F
urthermore he had a modified Audi out front. So I went in with the safe (i thought) assumption that he kind of knew his way around a tool box.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:46 |
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Well... Did they drill? :p
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:48 |
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If it was just me, i’d have been the hell out of there right away. But was acting as a consult for a friend who was lookin g to buy (I told him that buying any vehicle from someone who might not know what a screwdriver is, is a bad idea)
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:49 |
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I’m usually an apologist for not knowing everything, but this isn’t like highly domain specific knowledge. This is one step above not knowing what a Phillips head is. Even if you don’t know Allen wrench, I’d expect someone to at least get it by hex wrench (though “Ikea wrench” is a good fallback). I wouldn’t expect everyone to own a set, but I feel like that should at least have some idea what they are.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:50 |
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My parking brake really doesn’t do much anyway. Still engage it though, I assume any bit of friction is good if the paw l fails.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:50 |
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It’s a safe bet the o wner had never read Zen a nd The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:50 |
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Because there’s an app for that.
2050 can't come quick enough amirite?!
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:52 |
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We had a shop class (and home ec) in middle school, but I don’t remember using (or even talking about) Allen wrenches. Mostly woodworking stuff in shop.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:53 |
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Probably the same way my former roommate did not know how to check the tire pressure in his car...
Story Time:
My former roommate, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell, comes up to me one day and says his tire light is illuminated on his dash. I shrug it off and say “you must have a low tire”. He asked how to figure out which one. I ask if any of his tires are completely flat and he says no. I say, “Ah, one must have a slow leak. Most tires lose about 1 psi a month. It probably isn’t a big deal”. I hand him the pressure gauge I keep in my VW and go back to what I was doing. About 10 minutes later, he comes in with a confused look on his face and ask how to check the pressure. At this point, I’m dumbfounded. A) How has someone never checked the pressure in a tire before? Didn’t you have a bicycle as a kid? 2) Why can’t this guy, a master of mechanical engineering who works for a major defense contractor, figure out how a schrader valve works. Like, you should have the problem solving skills to look at the valve, look at the gauge, and literally put two and two together. So I show him how to do it and explain proper operation. We find the low tire (at like 28 psi) and I tell him to go to a certain gas station that I know has free air. Then he asks how to fill up the tire. I should have expected that question, but it still threw me off. I say you stick the compressor thingy onto the tire thingy and the tire inflates and not to overdo it. He leaves to go to that and I was shook the rest of the evening. Some people’s kids...
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:54 |
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Or any home diy show
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:54 |
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This is the best I can do for you:
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:54 |
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God... it’s like you know me lol
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:55 |
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“do you have an Ikea wrench? “ ......she comes back with... one. ..
Did you think Ikea sold them in sets?
(Turns out they actually do sell an Ikea tool set!)
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:55 |
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*checks to see if there is an allen wrench app*
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:58 |
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We learned about all the basic tools. We also learned the fundamentals of drafting, woodworking, and metal work. Mr. Loudermilk had a forge and aluminum ingots in the back. We made a bunch of cool stuff in the name of a grade in that class.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:58 |
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Oh god.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 13:58 |
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![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:00 |
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That is a 100% safe assumption
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:00 |
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What if the random people are also mechanical
engineers?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:01 |
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![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:02 |
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Hilarious.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:03 |
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I think at that, I would have just left.
after about 5 minutes of rolling on the ground laughing
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:04 |
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It seriously blew my mind.
Another day, after this incident, he said he asked if I could help him change his own brakes. I, quickly and firmly, told him to go to a shop. I like that he wanted to try to learn, but don’t start with the most important safety system on your car. Slash, I don’t want to just work on your car, because it will be me doing the entire job.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:05 |
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I’ve had people pop the hood, the trunk, the fuel filler door. Try repeatedly to move. Until they finally give up and come back into the office and I have to SHOW them how to release the parking brake on a car they’ve usually had for five years or more.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:05 |
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Phillip’s cousin?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:05 |
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Yeah, I definitely got a basic crash course in tools in middle/high school, but that was rural farming PA. Probably not standard in more urban settings
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:08 |
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Can confirm - not all engineers have hands-on building skills or desire.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:11 |
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Yeah, I’ve done the “can you help me with...?” before, where it really me
an
s “can you do...” .
The policy now is “You can come over and use my tools and space. I will drink beer and watch. I’ll offer moral support and make sure you don’t walk yourself off a cliff.” That usually weeds out the please do my maintenance for free type requests
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:11 |
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It’s shocking how little people understand about how things go together, or come apart.
I remember when I was 19 and put a cold air intake on my Civic and my sister who was 25 at the time was astonished that just knew how to install it.
I was like “I just looked at the old one, figured out how it came off, the new hoes on with a few hose clamps” to which she replied “what’s a hose clamp?”
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:14 |
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That is a good strategy. I will even teach someone how to do something for themselves, if it seems like they actually want to learn for future maintenance. This is very, very rare though.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:14 |
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Well, I have a BSME... but I’ve also known what an allen wrench was since I was around nine years old. Whether that’s formative or merely characteristic, I would consider it “easy” knowledge even considering my own bias.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:14 |
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I’ve totally stopped asking non car people to pop the hood, watching them mess with the hood catch gets sad really fast
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:16 |
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Or even basic problem solving skills, in my experience.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:20 |
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I’m jealous.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:24 |
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My special lady friend is a 37 year old Lieutenant in the Navy. She is also an oncology nurse. She has lived on her own since she was 18 and I know for a fact that she doesn’t know what a Philip’s head screwdriver is. She does know what a “pointy screwdriver” is though. It’s not as though she has never owned or used one, she just doesn’t have any reason to know what it’s called.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:26 |
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Sounds better than my two semesters of shop. My high school has a drafting class as and elective (which was somewhat tempting , but we had very limited free periods to use on electives, and I used mine for programming classes)
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:26 |
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Hey, gimme that thingee... NO! The other thingee!
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:26 |
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:28 |
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So much this. I wouldn’t say I grew up poor, but we didn’t have money to just throw away (nor do I now). My dad really did grow up poor, so as a kid, I learned from Dad how to make do with what you had in the shop. Sure, you could go buy a new widget, but sometimes you don’t have time, or the store is out of said widget. Some of the best lessons I ever learned.
Rewind about 20 years. My wife and I had just moved into a new place and basically spent every spare dime we had doing it. (That’s the way it goes, right?) As we’re moving in and getting things set up, I’m installing the washer and dryer. My wife is helping get them pushed into place in the tiny laundry room because she’s not a girly girl and she’s not afraid to get dirty - never has been. I go to plug the dryer in and the plug won’t fit. Either the plug is three prong and the outlet is four, or vice versa, I don’t remember. I say something like ‘really, the plug won’t fit?’ - probably with some profanity included, because I’m tired. We all are, it’s been a long day and moving sucks. My wife didn’t “melt down”, per se, but it was clear that she felt this was a Very Bad Thing™ and that great, now we have to buy a new dryer. Whoa, slow down, I said. I can just change the cord. “You can DO that?”
She had no idea the cord could be changed. In her defense, she’d just never been in that situation, so she didn’t know. To this day we laugh about it. At this point the washer and dryer are 25 years old or so. I ’ve repaired the dryer four or five times (not including new cords) and the washer probably as many times. Occasionally she tells family or friends “I want a new washer and dryer, but he keeps FIXING the darn things!!!!”
TL;DR - an awful lot of people can’t have nice things because they spend so much money buying something new instead of making some effort to fix what they have.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:30 |
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You make do with what you have.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:31 |
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I didn’t realize what a useful class that was without years of hindsight.
Fortunately it was reinforced at home building and fixing all kinds of stuff with my dad.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:31 |
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There was still a rural legacy in my suburban township back then.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:32 |
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“ Who is Crescent ”
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:35 |
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We don't have that problem in Saskatchewan because we don't have Ikea.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:36 |
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Experiences like this are why my 10 year old has jacked up a car with a scissor jack, and a floor jack, placed jack stands, replaced a flat tire, checked tire pressure and filled a tire with air. I’ve also been showing how to work on his bikes as he breaks things on them.
I refuse to have a kid who doesn’t know how to do things for himself
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:45 |
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He is lucky to have you as a father.
A lot of my experience is from basic repairs to my bikes growing up. All those sick rear tire slides on my Dyno ate up a lot of tires and tubes, along with the associated birthday money to replace them.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 14:51 |
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They (Mrs McMike and her aunt) looked at him wondering how he could have ever thought that was going to work, and told him to go back and get a QUARTER INCH DRILL BIT.
He said that he didn’t think he had one (because he didn’t want to go back). They bullied him into going and he came back with a whole set of bits!
Amazing!
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:08 |
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![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:12 |
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Not all mechanical engineers know what tools are. In fact I would argue that probably half don’t. Mechanical engineer != mechanic.
Source: Am a ME, work with lots of MEs.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:14 |
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Hey now, to be fair, they said get 1/4" and he got one 4 inch bit... close enough!
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:19 |
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My daughter knows how to change a flat, change brake pads, check the oil and other fluids, and do an oil change on her car. The first of those was a Dad requirement before she would be allowed to have a car. The others she learned with me as we did the work on her car.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:21 |
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Now that you mention it, m
aybe they wrote it down, and he asked for “One Four inch bit
”
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:30 |
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I’ve worked with enough, um, special people that I fluently speak dumb.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:33 |
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I gave you a star. It’s a sad star. I feel your post deeply.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:35 |
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Also, it’s fun to fix things.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:36 |
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Thank you. I feel for you if you have to put up with that kind of BS too.
I mean, I don’t expect MEs to be mechanics, but when mechanic is in the title of your degree I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to expect you know the proper direction to turn a screwdriver to tighten or loosen something. (And yes, I have seen this).
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:40 |
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See, reading your story, the whole time I’m thinking, what functional adult doesn’t carry a multitool on them?
I kid, I kid.
Any reason you guys didn’t just push start it?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:43 |
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My brother in law (19) said he thought his car was low on oil. I said “did you check the dipstick?”
He said: “Do I have to lift the hood”
....”yeah”
“pass”
FML
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:44 |
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I welded up a couple small brackets for my trailer in my driveway and now the lady across the street thinks I’m some kind of wizard.
Honestly, I think you’re right to question this, especially as someone who owns a motorcycle. There’s no way you can be a motorcycle owner and not know your way around basic hand tools. Maybe that’s why he’s selling it? The battery died, he didn’t know how to change it, and was just too proud to admit it!
I think that part of the problem is there’s a huge swath of people that are just disinclined from mechanical work, yard work, etc. because they never had to do it, or at least help do it . Their parents just paid other people to do it. Growing up I had to help with yard work - mow, rake leaves, and occasionally pull weeds and mulch flower beds. My wife never had to do any of this stuff and now I’m stuck with trying to teach her. Sometimes I have to remind myself the Judge would l augh me out of the courtroom when I tell them that the grounds for divorce is that she doesn’t know how to transplant a small boxwood.
I kid, I kid... maybe.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:54 |
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Lol find me a multitool with a 6mm allen that fits in a pocket.
Yeah, battery was DEAD dead and was a fuel injected bike that hadn’t run in a while, no real way to push start if it doesn’t have enough juice to pressurize fuel lines.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:55 |
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Let me guess... the little magic lamp
light was coming on?
![]() 06/18/2019 at 15:59 |
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nah. Engine sounds like it is eating itself.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:07 |
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Yeah, it’s one thing to have like a Civic or something and not have any knowledge of how it works, but bikes are mechanical things. They rely on the operators ability to quickly safety check subsystems else risk extreme injury.
Not long after I moved in to my house
I overheard my next door neighbor
on the phone once “I don’t know, let me ask my neighbor, he’s a mechanic”
I’ve still
never bothered to correct him lol
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:09 |
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*hand them a Ministry CD
“here,
this should go well with those
noises”
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:13 |
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But it’s also incredibly funny to watch. But I’m also a terrible person.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:20 |
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I definitely let them go at it until specifically asking for assistance. Sometimes that was a fair few glorious minutes
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:26 |
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We should have a contest to see which is funnier: trying to open the hood, or trying to release the parking brake.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 16:41 |
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I get more satisfaction out of fixing things like that than I ever do with my “real” job at the office.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 21:20 |
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My BiL’s dad was a dentist, so landscaping etc was all done. I never knew someone could be so clueless. He’s a 30+ year ol male that barely use a screwdriver. Craqzy booksmart, but no mechanical inclination.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 21:25 |
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When I was an intern at a plant, I asked one of the workers if he could pass me a pair of vicegrips (as he was standing next to the toolbox) and the 40+ hands me a pair of adjustible pliers.
![]() 06/18/2019 at 23:49 |
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Good job. She’s got a much better education than most.
For the first YEAR my wife has her own car she didn’t know you even had to change the oil. Went almost 20,000 miles without one.
![]() 06/19/2019 at 00:01 |
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Its pretty rare in middle school, but that is actually what I teach.
![]() 06/19/2019 at 00:12 |
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You’re doing the Lord’s work. Kids don’t have to do everything themselves when they grow up, but they should know more than just how to put the handyman’s number on speed dial.
![]() 06/19/2019 at 00:14 |
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I worked at a local hardware store/lumber yard in high school. Early on in my tenure there, a man in his 40's asked me, “What’s the difference between a nail and a screw.”
I’m still not sure how I managed to answer that straight faced and snark free, but I did. I found whatever nail or screw he needed (can't remember), and returned to the hardware desk. There I found my manager completely red faced from holding in his laughter. When he calmed down he told me, "You should have asked him, 'Ever been nailed? Ever been screwed?'"
![]() 06/19/2019 at 03:24 |
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Thank you, and agreed.