Why are some people utterly useless at fixing and doing things?

What I have seen has stunned me, utterly stunned me in fact.

My neighbour just got a new car, not brand new but only a few years old and for him a very big outgoing and a nice car.

He hit a kerb earlier and smashed the corner of his splitter, it's a pretty low car and as only had it less than a week misjudged it.

As you can imagine he was gutted and showed me that he still had all the bits and wondered if he could fix it as a new splitter was going to be around £400 and he did not have the money.

All the parts where there so I said "right then don't worry, nip to the motor factors(2 min walk as we are next live behind the carpark) Get a fibreglass repair kit, a small tin of primer and one of colour matched paint, some flexible filler and some duck tape. We will take it off, tape the broken bit back together and then use the fibreglass and resin to build it back up from the rear that will not be seen. Then we can use my dremel to creates some channels in the cracks, fill and sand them and then use my compressor and hvlp gun to prime and topcoat it. I am not a pro but you will have to be looking very close to see the repair and I am happy to help.

Then I went back inside to take a look at a laptop I got off a mate as he said it was dead and beyond repair.

about an hour later and some tricks of the trade and my son is sat there playing on the now perfectly functional(and pretty decent spec laptop)....

I go outside for a smoke and see that my neighbour has duck taped the broken splitter parts back on(from the front, great big creases in the tape) and has bought a tin of red spraypaint and sprayed it????

Apparently it was just for a few months whilst he saves up to buy a whole new splitter.

I think sometimes some of forget that not everyone is hands on and has the skills to do things.

a reply to: nonspecific

Apparently it was just for a few months whilst he saves up to buy a whole new splitter.

He'll probably total it by then… maybe he knows something you don't?

You can't cure stupid?

Thank You for trying to help this guy!!

originally posted by: Caver78
You can't cure stupid?

Thank You for trying to help this guy!!

Well I will not be there to offer help when it falls off.

I really do despair and not just at the "quality of the job"

The whole thing about a splitter is to move air.

I love duck tape as much as the next person but is it really going to hold up at 100mph with the pressure it is under?

Utterly baffled.

a reply to: nonspecific

My neighbour just got a new car, not brand new but only a few years old and for him a very big outgoing and a nice car.

Curious to know what type of car?

a reply to: nonspecific

Too bad we can't see a pic of that, for 'insurance' reasons and all.

A shiney one....

Nothing special but a sports version of a standard UK car, pretty tidy and a shame he cracked it under a week.

I really felt for him and I know how gutting it is when you spang something so expensive and new to you, that's why I offered the best part of my day to help him fix it.

Ddos created double post, and in the rant forum too...

a reply to: nonspecific

What is a "splitter?" In the US we don't have such a term. Maybe a front air dam below the front end?

ETA: You know the answer. Some folks gain the idea that they should never do menial work or get their hands dirty except maybe to work in a prized garden. This is a growing trend as my "generations" learned to work on our vehicles and other stuff. Today vehicles and other stuff are mostly electronic and we can't literally see what the problem as it was when our things were mostly mechanical. The cheapness of our basic machines today also encourages a "toss" rather than "repair" approach to the question of what to do when something fails.

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: nonspecific

What is a "splitter?" In the US we don't have such a term. Maybe a front air dam below the front end?

ETA: You know the answer. Some folks gain the idea that they should never do menial work or get their hands dirty except maybe to work in a prized garden. This is a growing trend as my "generations" learned to work on our vehicles and other stuff. Today vehicles and other stuff are mostly electronic and we can't literally see what the problem as it was when our things were mostly mechanical. The cheapness of our basic machines today also encourages a "toss" rather than "repair" approach to the question of what to do when something fails.

Yes a "splitter" is on the underneath of the bumper on the front end of a front wheel drive car to create downforce. To be fair the car in question does not really need one it is more to make the car look mean but will still not stand up to 100mph held together with tape.

I think i know his long lost brother , He drives like 8 old in 2nd or 3rd gear while talking to you ,buys all his tools at the pound shop

These people are breeding - watch out

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
I think i know his long lost brother , He drives like 8 old in 2nd or 3rd gear while talking to you ,buys all his tools at the pound shop

These people are breeding - watch out

I bought a hammer from the pound shop once and when I got home it had a sticker on it saying "warning do not strike metal objects with this hammer...

My dad bought a sprit level from one and it did not have a bubble, like he said what do you expect for a quid.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
I think i know his long lost brother , He drives like 8 old in 2nd or 3rd gear while talking to you ,buys all his tools at the pound shop

These people are breeding - watch out

I bought a hammer from the pound shop once and when I got home it had a sticker on it saying "warning do not strike metal objects with this hammer...

My dad bought a sprit level from one and it did not have a bubble, like he said what do you expect for a quid.

2-FOR 1 DEALS

what do you expect for a quid / a friggin lot mate

At tescos tonight in the reduced bin 2 choc cakes 3 loafs bunch of flowers for mum and a big pizza = 90 p

He who waits wins , but the people like your neighbour are beyond help when you try and help them it is like you are talking in flamming swahili to them even when you say it really ssllloowwwllyy to them , their brain over rides it within 3 seconds like a computer rebooting .

Even prayer does not help

Best just to say / Hay i can fix that for £ 199 everyones happy then

and off to the pub we go

a reply to: nonspecific

Tell him for $12.99 he can have a nice set of curb feelers. LOL

a reply to: nonspecific

We (in the western world) are growing up in a place where young people (urged by parents) wish to go to college and university to qualify for jobs that earn high incomes. When an individual focuses on one aspect of their future so intensely they limit their abilities beyond that focus to the point that everyday tasks seem difficult.

People like myself who grew up without that kind of PRIVILIDGED education have abilities of every day survival and the need to adapt to get through every day without the gift of throwing a huge salary at the outside world to get what I need.

Those with the limits of their privilidge will ironically be the slaves of those who do the things that need little or no qualifications.

I love the rich fools, for they are the ignorance that keep Jack Of All Trades happy.

It's the same for me. People I know can't even change out a light switch, wall outlet or install a ceiling fan. They are completely lost when it comes to any power tool and I cringe when they use one, just waiting for the scream. They have no idea how to install or fix plumbing and sheet rock is a mysterious substance that baffles them so badly they'd rather just keep the holes, than try to patch or hang a new sheet.
Don't get me started on their lack of skill when it comes to taking care of or fixing cars. I know one woman who put gas in and drives it. That's it. Any thing else is completely ignored, till it reaches the point it disables the vehicle. With carpenters and mechanics so expensive, you'd think they would at least try to learn. I helped build my parents house and I've never hired a plumber, electrician or carpenter and I've rarely, rarely taken my car to a mechanic.

a reply to: nonspecific

It is interesting...I know I am fix just about anything I could possibly break (ie I can't fix a nuclear reactor, but I can't break one either.) Not because of any special training or having seen it done before. I'm sure different people pick up the "fix whatever" ability different ways, but in general, I think it stems from curiosity and at some point, a "triggering" successful experience of fixing something you had no prior experience with. Thus, a fixer is born!


Just about anything broken can either be: A) part replacement B) reassemble or C) Refurbish

A) "Part Replaced" instructions:
1) Remove anything necessary to get to broken part
2) Remove broken part
3) Replace broken part with new part
4) Replace any other removed parts
Notes:
1. Pay attention to how the parts were on before starting and along the way. If complex, take notes, pictures, or even video.
2. Don't lose anything you need, and keep track of what goes where. Use magnet trays for steel hardware. Use Ziplock® bags for small parts. Label things if necessary/helpful.

B) "Reassemble" instructions:
1) Figure out what goes where. Having done jigsaw puzzles is good background for this skill.
2) Decide which parts will go back together as originally intended and which will need additional help
3) The parts needing additional help usually means they need superglue, epoxy, solder, tape, screws, brackets, etc. Get the materials, make stuff stick back together.

C) "Refurbish" Instructions:
1) Take the yucky stuff off
2) Put new stuff on

It just all seems so simple (doesn't mean it's always easy.) I've always enjoyed the tough ones/new things because I learn, teaching myself.

As to why some people don't have it. Maybe they were never interested in how things work? Or maybe a lack of confidence or apprehension about doing something they haven't been specifically trained how to do?

I've always kind of wondered myself, and I've always been thrown off by the questions: where did you learn that? How do you know how to do that? I guess it looks like something special to people who don't have the "fixer app" installed in their brains, but to us, it just seems like no big deal, and no great accomplishment.

I do, of course, run a quick mental calculation: is it worth my time/effort? Will I enjoy this fix, or be miserable? Sentimental item? I once spent 2 hours fixing my son's favorite "bubble fan" toy. It was a $10 toy, but in his words, "I don't want a new bubble fan, I want the bubble fan from Nana and Papa."

a reply to: nonspecific

I sometimes feel that we're moving away from practical skills at the speed of light. The past three generations seem to have less and less general knowledge about building and fixing things. For instance, some of my dad's generation could put their hands to basic wiring, motor repairs and DIY with ease. They knew about Ohm's Law and resistance or that changing a hoover fan belt was better than buying a new hoover. They could read road maps ffs!

There's a small shop who buys *broken* Dysons and other cleaners for a tenner. Fair play to the fella, he's making good money based on people being unaware that washing a filter or changing a belt is easier than spending £1-200 when their cleaners fail.

I've been 'fixing' an elderly couple's computer for the price of a slice of cake and cuppa. The previous guy charged £40 a month to be 'on call' and then £50 and more to repair what went wrong! Adobe updates!

I suppose as we move away from practical skills we help the small businesses to flourish. Not all bad then.

a reply to: dogstar23

I think I learned how to fix things because I have always liked to figure out how things work and take stuff apart to find out. Then I have to figure out how to put it back together again.

I also like stuff that cost me either nothing or very little, as I mentioned in the OP the laptop I fixed was a brick ready for the bin until I spent 20 seconds blasting the crap out of the cooling fan with my air compressor and no it is fine, I like that feeling a lot.

It's the same with upcycling, I was upcycling before it was even a thing with a name.

The desk I am sat at was made out of a sheet of scrap mdf, part of a friends broken bed and a shelving unit that was dumped down the road. I could have gone to IKEA and spent a few hundred quid on something of inferior quality and not made to size but why would I do that???

a reply to: Kandinsky

Part of me thinks that this is being manufactured to keep the worlds economies moving, making things that cannot be fixed and not teaching kids how to think and have the confidence in themselves to mend or build things is making us heavily reliant on others and that scares me a little. When I fixed the laptop I also taught my son what the different components where and how they worked, this is important to me as I want him to be the exception to the rule.

My dad worked in a power station but when I was a kid and we needed a new roof on the house 2 of his mates who were also not roofers turned up on a weekend and the three of them just went up and put a whole new roof up, no one would even think about doing that in this day and age.