Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:01:00 -0400
Reply-To: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?
In-Reply-To: <1218748379.31900.1268705673@webmail.messagingengine.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Well i feel like chiming in...... as a young person.
I have to both agree with your guys, and disagree. It seems the general
decision here so far has been that young people as a whole have lost the
bulk of their mechanical knownhow that used to be passed down, and that as
a result cars have been built without being adventagous to the established
principle of fixing your own car. Well these are both valid points, and
there is a great deal of truth in this argument, but at the same time i feel
the need to disagree.
When i was 16 i purchased my vanagon, i couldn't drive a stick (heck i
couldn't drive.), i was recovering from a severe car crash (and not well),
and i had essentially no money. I was of course, unemployed (unable to
work), and i must say, the bus was a WRECK. Well I've come a long way, and
my bus is very happy now. I've rebuilt the engine, the coolings system, the
brakes, the clutch system, and a whole slue of various other bits here and
there (Not to mention adding a full westfalia interior). I've learned alot,
but not necessarily from any one person....
I've had help from many local vanagon friends and i can't thank them enough
for the lessons they've helped me with.....but i don't feel i couldn't have
done it without any one person....
I think that's the problem with the whole conversation we're having;
Everyone has ONE person to thank for all their mechanical skills. Well i'm
sorry, that's just not true. We as humans are curious creatures with an
internal desire to act, and as such I feel it's only human nature to make a
decision to get something done. While the decision has become subconciously
imbedded in today's youths (and quite a few generations older than me i
might add!) that acting can be as simple as "Taking it to the
professionals". We still have the desire to accomplish, and you'd be
suprised just how much any young person really does know about mechanics
just from observation, but the sociological impact of "disposable" is what
has resulted in the problem we face. I had a professor that once said "There
is No 'Away'. Show me where 'Away' is. You cannot throw anything away, as
it's always SOMEWHERE". Well here is where the problem begins... Every
aspect of the way the world lives today (Not just the youth) perpetuates the
idea of "AWAY". We drink water out of disposable bottles, we replace
computers and cell phones every few years as a new generation progresses,
and Cars have some kind of "wear limit" that no one can quite define. You
would not believe how many people twice or 3 times my age have come up to me
when talking about cars and said something along the lines of "ya, but it
has 90K miles on it....its getting up there" or "Ya, but it has 190K miles
on it.....". My answer to them is and always will be "SO?" Does it say
somewhere that it WILL stop at 100K miles? Why do you reallly want to
replace it anyway? There's nothing wrong with it, it's not even out dated,
it has all the features of the newest vehicles.....if you want to throw your
money away fine, but untill it give s you problems, that's when it's worn
out.
Our society of disposability and "AWAY" is what i feel really has resulted
in the modular and "high tech" vehicles of today. Try convincing most people
of that though..... They all feel we've made such huge leaps foward in
transportation technology....but i will always present the following
argument:
In the '70's VW made a small 2 door hatchback vehicle that was affordable
and utilitarian, marketed to the masses as "The Rabbit" that got 50mpg (or
more). In 2008 VW is producing a small 2 door hatchback vehicle that is ment
to be affordable and marketed to the masses, but would struggle to get
30mpg. WOW. What a technelogical advancement towards practicality!!!! (yes,
i know the holes in this argument, "They're not the same vehicle" Etc)
It's simple enough for me to say truthfully that there is more than just
hope for the youth of today. Last year a girl i barely knew, through a
mutual friend, contacted me and said she'd like to thank me for getting her
interested in vintage VW's. She hung out in my bus once, and decided to
pursue her dream of buying a beetle! So at that point we became better
friends, and i've been helping her to mechanically master her '74 autostick
superbeetle.....HELP. I don't teach. I won't even do it for her unless she's
WAY off, but i show up, tell her to "just replace the front brake cylinder",
and provide tools. When she's goign to mess up, sometimes i let her. We can
fix it later...
We've had a great summer of working on the beetle, and shes' doing alot of
the work on her own now. Remember what i said way up there about confidence
being the problem? Once the decision has been made (as decision making
creatures) that progress must be made, it's just a matter of providing the
tools to do it......the knowledge will come in "doing". We cannot just give
up on these youth. Where do you expect them to learn? You're just throwing
your knowledge "AWAY" (But remember, there is no Away. So someone, will pick
up on it).
I firmly believe that when the world gets struck by whatever it will be
struck by, and the framework of our society is broken down, there will only
be a few people such as myself that will be able not just to remember and
reinvent the wheel, but to find a practical application for it again and
continue to develop it. This is and always will be my intention. To be able
to fix the world when it breaks.
-Craig
'85GL (Now WESTY)
Younger than my bus....
On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 5:12 PM, Allan Streib <streib@cs.indiana.edu> wrote:
> "Don Hanson" <dhanson@GORGE.NET> said:
>
> > Young people today (especially in the USA) don't need look very closely
> at
> > life to know that those who do stuff with their hands, as in "the Trades"
> > are now mostly living below poverty level.
> > Remember those professions? "Tradesmen"? You know, Carpenters,
> > Electricians, Plumbers, Mechanics, Painters..etc?. Not "Happening" any
> > more. Learning how to do something like fix a car or hang a door...That
> is
> > considered a waste of time and beneath a "real person"..All the trades
> seem
> > to be handled by the illegals now, because they are jobs "Americans"
> won't
> > do any more (for the money that's being paid, anyways)
>
> Um, you live in a different universe than I do. Some of the most
> well-to-do people I know are electricians and plumbers. I'm talking
> six-figure income, lavish homes, and working when they want to, for the
> most part. Well above my income as a software developer. If any of my
> kids don't want to go to college, I'd definitely steer them to
> electrical or plumbing vocational training. These professions are not
> going anywhere soon.
>
> Allan
>
| 
