I’m getting older, and I pride myself in being able to fix most anything.
So, if you see a man like myself, who carries a leatherman tool on his belt and maybe has a small crescent wrench in his pocket, or a screwdriver in his shirt pocket, has dirty fingernails on the ends of gnarled arthritic fingers, chances are that man was raised like me. Raised to fix things.
We learned do what was necessary to survive, often times from lack of money. I was privileged to be raised and to work around men who survived the great depression and they taught me the skills to fix stuff. I am a “jack of all trades” as they say… and if I can’t fix it or figure it out, chances are I know someone who can.
But without having work ethic… knowledge is useless when not applied. We are a different and dying breed.
I have done construction work, plumbing, electrical, and I learned to weld. I can cut and install glass and doctor animals. If it has tracks or wheels I can run it, and I can usually fix them when they breakdown.
I’m trying to pass as much knowledge along to those behind me who will listen. My son often asks me where I learned to do stuff and I just say “from someone else or from trial and error.” A proud moment for me was when my son was working in something and a guy drove up and asked him “where’d you learn to do that?” My son pointed at me and said “he taught me everything I know, but it’s still not everything HE knows!”
So when you meet a guy like me, if you’re a younger person, you better listen and learn from what we have to say. Because we learned what we know from those old timers or the hard way and from our mistakes, that can help you through life. You just gotta be willing to learn.
But also know that in a world where everything is disposable, and you find yourself in the presence of such a man like those that taught me – they are a dying breed. I wish I’d have payed more attention and learned more when I was younger. When they were gone, all their knowledge was gone too.
