The world has lost the appreciation for hard work

[Scott Danforth]

Great article.

Leno: Appreciation for hard work is fading, and old cars aren't easy - Hagerty Media

Restorations are the furthest thing from instant gratification, but society's appreciation for expert handiwork is vanishing.

www.hagerty.com

The point was driven home to me when I finished the restoration and started the bathroom remodel a few weeks ago.

the lack of understanding from the general masses of the level of work that one can accomplish with their hands is staggering.

the most disturbing was a comment from my former employer that stated, your smart, you dont need to do that yourself. My reply was. Im smart, and skilled, and to keep both my intelligence and my skills, I need to build with my hands. Carl Sagan wrote it best back in 1995:
I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…

eventually he just looked at me and said he didnt understand.

 

[gm280]

I wonder IF today's generation would have ever had the temperament and mentality to take out across unsettle America with NO-ONE having their backs to explore this nation like others that were settling this nation long ago did? I just don't see much of that fortitude today. Too many demand the government take care of them instead of doing things for themselves. I too like to do my own projects and house renovations. We have done that our entire lives and enjoy the self satisfaction that comes with the finished projects as well. But I have come to the point to not dwell on such things knowing I can't fix all the wrongs in the world.

 

[cptbill]

One of the reasons I retired from sold my const. co. back in 2014 and retired from full time work was that very reason. When I would hire someone they would show up for a week and seem to be ok, then I'd go to my tug for my 14 day shift and by the time I got back my forman would tell me" they really didn't think it was gonna be that muck work" One the boats it was the same problem and also they couldn't put there phone down long enough to throw a line. It's sad but there are enough youth or young adults out there that will "do what it takes" to give me hope. I think the stuff I do now Repair & refinish furniture, boats and doing all my own remodeling keeps my brain from going stale

 

[gm280]

Don't get me wrong. Every now and then I come across a person that still has that initiative, ability, eagerness and wants to do a great job and even looks for more. But sadly they are harder to find now then anytime I can think of.

I do remember, when I was still working, how we would go to a meeting to discuss if we could "modernize" an antiquate military aircraft circuit/system. Every fresh engineer instantly said NO! I told the requesters, of course we can. And with the looks of the fresh engineers looking at me in curious puzzlement, I/we took the challenge and actually were able to do the task. Seems some just don't think other then, it is too much work to do it.

 

[racerone]

I have to agree ---Real work and skill have gone away these days.

 

[Lou C]

I could not agree more. When friends and relatives question why I like fixing old stuff (they think I’m just cheap lol) and why I don’t buy new stuff I can obviously afford; I reply my quest is for skills and knowledge. Not just buying & acquiring stuff. People who lease new cars all the time really don’t get this though. To each their own!

 

[matt167]

Yup, nobody wants to work, and there is plenty of work to be had..

 

[racerone]

We can buy " new stuff " made in offshore factories where there are low taxes and wages.----Why get anything repaired.

 

[Scott Danforth]

We can buy " new stuff " made in offshore factories where there are low taxes and wages.----Why get anything repaired.

Because nothing made in offshore factories has soul.

 

[redneck joe]

Reminds me I need tp update my platform bed thread. After two nigjt sleeping like teenagers, we slept high and tight last night. Goal today is to hang the cabinets.

Then, to the pint of this thread, time to start the bath expansion/remodeling. While I do love to do it myself, I'm also quite cheap where I can so I don't have to be elsewhere.

Our boys are both good, we hade one over for luch yesterday and he needed a coffee table and I had a live edge slab left and he had never used a belt sander so they went home with a coffee table to be stained and poly.

There is hope.

 

[gm280]

Well like previously said, "to each their own". Everyone doesn't have to think alike. This is America where everyone can do as they like. I like repairing most anything. Why you ask? Because I enjoy doing the repairs and get that self satisfaction reward instantly as well. And I also love designing circuits and unique tools and ideas. When you use your brain to come up with an idea to make, you get an amazing great feeling seeing it come to fruition and work as you thought. Just MY opinion...

 

[southkogs]

Neat article Scott. Thanks.

 

[sphelps]

My problem is the stuff I am pretty good at is becoming something that I just cant do physically any more very well ..That is extremely frustrating !
I do think there is hope for the future though .. I have seen some younger folks with good promise . But like was said earlier, todays skills are just different . Just different tools are used to produce the same if not better outcome .. For example , my trade requires laying out all the walls ,soffits, doors ,ect in buildings .. They have to be in the right place and height for everything to work out . So I learned to read prints and follow all the details of the projects and lay them out with a pencil , tape measure, and chalk lines.. We still do that, but we also use robotic layout machines for large projects . Well I can kind of run the machine but I get hung up quite often then just get frustrated and go back to the tape measure ..
My son on the other hand can play the robot like Charlie Daniels can play the fiddle .. It absolutely amazes me what he can do in a few seconds using the robot where it would have taken me a lot longer to do conventionally ..And using that robot has really taught my son how everything goes together in layers so that in turn has made him much better at laying stuff out by hand .
He is better than me now and there is no one in our company that I trust more with the layout than him ..I hope that my guidance over the years has helped shape the skills he has now in some way ..
So what I'm getting at is everyone and every generation have different skillsets .. Just different ...

 

[gm280]

Sam, I totally understand what you are saying. Old ways mixed with new abilities is a great thing. BUT, it takes a younger generation with the initiative to do such things. I just don't see that energy level in a lot of younger people anymore. We once were taught that in order to succeed, YOU have to work for it. And that means working your way up the ladder. Too many WANT to be the CEO and/or president of corporations instantly these days, instead of working up that ladder. I don't see that attitude of working your way up in so many these days. Seems everyone wants someone else to take care of them now. When I was a lot younger, that mindset was totally frown upon. Now it seems to be the mainstay idea of a too many... Of course there are exceptions, and that person is a rare commodity for sure!

 

[WIMUSKY]

This is easy for Leno to say: "They’re not overcharging—in fact, they’re probably undercharging.". They charge plenty. They have all the proper equipment to do the job and can do it in 1/3 the time if not less. Granted there's plenty of overhead, but they also know people don't wrench anymore. Part of the reason for the high prices is the car manufacturers build these vehicles so the backyard mechanic can't work on them. Either everything is buried and/or computerized. I bought an OBDII reader in hope that if the cel goes on I can fix it. Even bought a reader for my motorhome. Just to change the oil on one of my snowmobiles I have to tear it half apart including removing the windshield with the gauge cluster...
I had quit wrenching for years, but now I started up again to save thousands.
As far as nobody wanting to do hard work anymore, I like to use our youth as an example. Seems like kids these days won't lift a finger for less than $20/hr. Even then it can be tough to get them to show up everyday. Part of the problem is kids are given everything from their parents. So right out of the gate they start life out with a poor work ethic..

 

[gm280]

So true. Seems so many, but not all, youth want plush wages for absolutely no work effort or even education involved. I was talking to my neighbor's yard mower and he said he has more work then he can do. I asked him why he doesn't hire a second crew to help out. He said, that the minute he leaves one yard with a crew, to do another yard, they basically stop working.

But he said they all demand their pay at the end of the day. But unless you are watching them, they refuse to work. And this is the typical yard crews with actually no education or work ethics.

I did yard work at the age of 13 yo. Yes, I was a gardener, mower and pool cleaner guy as my first paid job. But I did the job extremely well and was paid about a $1 per hour at that time. And I was proud to have that job and did it better then anyone could or would. I just don't see that anymore with young people working for anything they want.

When my two sons asked me for money in their teens, I pointed to the lawn mower and edger and said go to work. Well they did and did a lot of work in their younger teen years. But it showed them how much work effort it took to get what they wanted to buy. And when they made their own money, they thought twice about what they really wanted to buy knowing how much work it took to get that money. I did my part teaching them responsibility and what real work was all about.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Every generation berates the previous for being lazy louts that will be the end of civilization as we know it. It was Aristotle or Plato that said that. I've quoted the text here on Dockside Chat a few times. I'm too lazy to simplly Google it as to who it was that said it. Take my word for it, must be true because I read it on the Interweb. I am a Baby Boomer and had the shoulder length hair of which I denyed having. Mom pulled out the grade 12 HS photo and low and behold, the hair was well past shoulder length. Here I go being lazy using acronyms, and call out millenials for doing exactly that.

 

[Krazeehorse]

They need that $20/hr so they can wear $75 hiking shorts with $15 socks. Geesh, I feel like a piker with my Hanes.

 

[gm280]

When I hear anyone talk about demanding they raising the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour for absolutely no marketable skills job, I wonder what they will think when everyone else in their exact same position gets their $15 dollar an hour raise and it comes full circle? And those demanding such raises are once again in a stagnate wage position that they can't buy what they used to because everyone else got their raise as will. Obviously thinking seems to be missing in this ignorant ploy. A much better idea is to go to a college or even a trade school and learn a skill that the world needs and then you will be earning a livable wage... duh! JMHO!