Sunday rant (more like a cry for help for all of us...)

I feel it is part of the dumbing down of America. In a box of antique books I found my great aunt's 5th grade reader. Its original publish date was 1869 with this issue being
from 1910.{my aunt died in 1971 at93} This book has Shakespear,Longfellow,and Dickens in it. My kids 5th grade reader?{thier 25 now} Nice big letters, but, it was "See Dick and Jane"."See Spot. See Spot run." And we are supposed to have a higher level of education now than ever before? I dont think so!

 

Thank you for this article.

 

Yup - the "everyone gets a trophy" ideal.

 

Well written but unfortunately the conditions are not limited to an age group. It would be interesting to complete your "egg test" with 100 automotive engineers over 50.

 

James Dean played a cry baby in every movie I ever saw him in.

 

Eventually the next generation will not know how to make anything or repair anything with their own hands in this country, it's a sad thing. Jay Leno has spoke may times about this very subject.

 

Good point, and I heard the same thing from my dad... I'm pretty sure he heard it from HIS dad as well. Difference now is, most EVERYTHING is just a click away. Kids are growing up thinking if they can't find or buy it on the Internet, it's not worth having.

One of the things I teach students is how to build headers. Almost ALL of them say they would never try to do it because it looks way too hard. I tell them that's exactly why they SHOULD try to do it. I get a lot of blank stares from that one....

 

I am 46 and I see this all the time bugs the you know what out of me. Good read

 

Look at it this way, us older guys, I'm 53, our parents went through the great depression and WWII. What does that have to do with it you say? Well, back then, you made do with what you had. If you didn't have it and couldn't buy it, you made it out of something else. Remember the old "Doodlebug" farm tractors? Farmer couldn't afford a tractor, so he built one out of what he could get his hands on, an old truck or car. My Dad was raised in that era, they were poor from the get go, and a knowledge of how things worked was essential to survive. He never had a welder or even learned how to weld, but knew enough about stuff he could make stay together with nuts and bolts and screws. Never drew any plans, kept it in his head, then he did what he wanted to do.

I learned from watching him repair or make stuff. I learned welding in Ag class at school, as well as other things. I learned how to make stuff when you didn't have the money to go buy it, or nobody else made it for sale.

The 1-800-Get what you want now has put an end to a lot of making stuff by hand. Why make it when you can pick up the phone and buy it? This is not lost out on the younger generation, but rather they see it as an easy way to get what they want. And a lot of them aren't car guys, sad to say. But with what the Govt has regulated that new cars have on them now to meet pollution and mileage requirements, I can see why they have no interest. It's not like taking a screwdriver, a 1/2" wrench, and a hammer and fixing anything anymore, you have to have special equipment and a tech degree! But there's hope, some kids are discovering old cars and the simplicity of them. They want to be different than the cookie cutter crowd. It may not be many of them, but there out there.

 

Thannks exwestracer for a well thought out, well written and intelligent thread. The problem is society and the lack of attention - everyone seems to have ADD. There are too many distractions, too many choices. Norman Mailer had it pretty much down pat when he wrote about the way that TV commercials every three minutes destroy the attention span....

 

That IS home for many kids. It is the parents responsibility to teach the kids manners, respect and desire to succede.

As for the attention span, blame it on the microwave. The ultimate tool of instant gratification.

 

I totally agree,Anymore even at jobs,Its rush rush get it done,The hourly rate is out the window,

 

Man that was a good read and it sure makes me feel good knowing that i still like to do it the old fashion way. Blood, sweat and tears....... Thank you Daddy for teaching me your values.....

 

Parents don't teach kids that. Marketing gurus do. Lose weight without excersize, Look 20 years younger for only 19.99. Buy now, pay later. Magic in a can.

As weird as it sounds, our culture is a byproduct of itself.

We're bombarded with advertising that says we deserve it now, cheap and fast. WHY would we think the new generation is growing up with a different opinion than what's been hammered into them since they first opened their eyes?

The reason for the sense of entitlement these 'kids' have is that they've been told all of their lives that they're 'entitled'.

This isn't going to change.

 

I agree with most of you kinda and I'm young. As far as the egg test goes, I don't know about you but I don't work for free. I have bills and wants that don't come free. But I went to school to learn how to weld and fabricate, that's what I do for a living. i used to work at a hot rod shop and a couple restoration shops. I think that when it comes to making something for a project it depends on what it's paying. A customer doesn't want to pay for 10 hrs of work when the same part could of been made for 2 hrs but just isn't a nicely or "fancy" ( lightning holes, finned, etc). But that doesn't make the part any less good just because they skipped some special features or used a grinder instead of a file. You or the budget are what decides how nice the part or project should be.

I personally end up going way too fast on my own stuff and then I either regret it or go back and fix it, but it's my stuff. Not yours. I'll do it my way because maybe that part of the build isn't worth the extra day of labor to make. And as far as the old guys building nice finished non-ratrod style cars, my guess is you have a stable paycheck, less bills possibley or are in good enough financial shape that you can afford to build a nice ride. I can't. My bills are just shy of what I make a month. But I wanted a bike and an old car so I do what I can afford and I'm ok with how shitty it is because at least I'm driving an old car. It's not sitting in the garage and it's not being built by someone else. I know that my problems aren't your problems but your problems aren't mine either.

But back to the whole point, my brain is too scattered to keep one solid thought, especially when I have a lot of points to talk about. I do agree that the new generations think that they are owed something. They would rather get behind a computer all day and make 6 figures for putting hardly anything into it and not actaully working. I understand some people are just talented at banking, designing whatever, writing, investing, computer programing, etc, but it seems like everyone now doesn't wanna get dirty or sweat to make a buck. They want it to be easy and they wanna be famous and not work for it. I think thats why the U.S. is so screwed on manufacturing now. The shop classes are gone and schools and parents think college is the only path to take to get jobs. Sorry my rant went all over and for the most part I agree with everyone and nobodys opinion is wrong really, that's why theres menus at restaraunts, nobody wants the same thing. Crusify me if you must over my grammer, punctuation and opinion, I could care less, I just read the posts and felt I needed to add some stuff. See you on the road guys and gals!

 

LOL! I hate the fucking things! But, I still use one for a few things...

 

Right, and I hear that a lot... What if you didn't know HOW to make the egg, and I offered you the opportunity to learn how to do something that would LEAD to something else? That was more my point.

I hear students say all the time: "It'll matter when I'm getting paid.". We've had several employees that proved that ISN'T the case...

Oh, and as far as the income ALMOST covering the bills...that's been my WHOLE life. Usually because I put "too many" hours into something to make it look nice, and couldn't justify billing the customer for my trouble...

 

Interesting read.. Being a typical old guy also I have a couple of thoughts on what you say. And I mostly agree with you. I can only talk for myself as this is the only life I have lived. As a young person the education system I attended bored me to death. It wasn't until I attended some college classes that I began to learn how to learn. And what I wanted to learn. Then I entered the work force. In a short time I thought I was almost as good as the people around me. It took YEARS to finally understand that I was not as good and that it took that much time to hone my skills. And I am still learning. I am now retired and have more time in the garage. I am now learning the finer points of all we like to do with our hobby. I enjoy it so much I take the time to 'do it right' and enjoy it even more. Maybe when we are young we don't think we have time to do it right. As youngsters we tend to be impatient. Thanks, I feel better now.

 

"do what you have to do to take care of his family. No bitching allowed."

Real men understand this statement.
r

 

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x2

 

BINGO! I totally agree and was too caught up to mention that part. I knew you weren't just taking kids off the street for no real reason and no explanation and my points earlier didn't include that so I appoligize for coming off kinda sarcastic, (Im young, thats what we do, haha). And as far as the bills point you made I understand. The hot rod shop I worked at only billed billable hours and sometimes you can't bill for cool looking nice parts that cost a fortune. Luckily we could for some and they would pay us for it as long we showed it took that long and they would take a hit on the price in most cases. I agree with you, theres a book about bringing back the shop classes called "shop class as soulcraft" by Mathew b. Crawford. I havent read it all, its kind of a hard read if your not a big reader and mildly illiterate but it's basically about what we are talking about in a way. glad you understood what I was saying and again I'm sorry I kinda skipped around and took things out of context when I started typing. Good rant though and I hope it switches soon or the country is in rougher shape then we thought.

 

Leave me and my 26 & 28 sons out of your crying mess.

Blind Elwood

 

One of the issues I see is that their version of hotrodding is rewriting the engine program on their ricer cars. My daughter was talking about how fast a friend of hers Honda ran but he could only get 10 or 12 runs and the engine needed redone. I showed her the data on some of the 60's and 70's muscle cars that ran hard for years and ran faster than the jap cars and what they cost, she couldn't believe it.

 

I work at a school and have 3 kids of my own so I see both sides.
My kids have friends that have bigger TVs in their bedrooms than we have in our living room, they have cell phones and laptops. Weve told our kids that they have to work for those types of things like we had to.
Our school district passes kids on to the next grade even if they fail, they dont get zeros for missed assignments, they can say and do whatever they want for the most part with no reprocussion.
Like some have said, they get something for nothing and thats what they expect.
Its disheartening and frustrating

 

Ok.

If I understood correctly, good on you for doing right by them!

 

to my way of thinking, this all starts with what people do for entertainment, what people do for pleasure/relaxation. what they seek out for recreation. the more passive the activity, the less stimulation and the less need for/value placed on sustained focus and concentration. in fact there's even decades-old, well-supported evidence that television physically flattens the brainwaves. people watch more tv than ever before and when they're not doing that, they're on their computers or phones, which are basically like smaller televisions. people are plugged in and passive nearly all the time now, and it follows that the minimum effort for anything that people see as reasonable has fallen and will continue to fall as our society become more and more accustomed to that state. essentially, to never having to do anything for themselves.

i'm not yet out of my twenties, and i'm no neo-luddite, but for the most part i fucking despise my own generation. they have no character, by in large. no honor, no dignity, no work-ethic, no sense of context or the bigger picture. they're ensuring that the future will be dogshit because they don't care about anything but themselves and their own short-term satisfaction. many i know are aggressively and proudly ignorant, and completely helpless. and when confronted, they whine or lay that "free country" trip on you. sure, you're free to be an asshole and ruin said country. you ask me, the more advanced out technology gets, the closer we get to being animals--eat, sleep, shit, screw, repeat. except animals have some survival skills.

 

in my little world the most talented hotrodders i know are under 30. the youngest is 17! it's very inspiring to hang around them. most of the guys my age (45) are too caught up in daily life to take the time to be the craftsmen we could/should be. i've got a young man (22) doing some metal work for me, he's already better than i ever was or will be. they're out there!

 

This excerpt is taken from the speech that President John F. Kennedy made on September 12, 1962 at Rice University, here in Houston. It's in his "moon speech" and while it doesn't mention cars at all, it embodies the spirit that I sometimes feel is lost. Not only in some of the youth, but the old as well. It follows:

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

When I was on my highschool debate team, I read this speech. It NEVER left me. Anytime I feel like being a slug. I look it up. Not only does it make me stop slacking off, it reminds me that "drive and passion" are better than any tool in a shop or garage.

 

well said

 

Exwestracer I agree with you. Im 49 and have three grown kids. I raised them teaching them about hard work and ethics. They all work in the medical field and are doing well in technical positions. I made them work for their own cars and whatever else they wanted. No free ride from me. It starts at home.
I work for a DOD contractor. We refurbish radar systems for the military and have a large metal shop. Finding people to work in the shop is almost impossible. Nobody want to work these days. They all want to play on smart phones and screw the pooch all day long. I grew up with the shop manager and work in another dept. I got together with him one day and while talking about the situation he decided to ban cell phones in the shop. It was probably the best thing he ever did for production. Work ethics these days are unheard of. In my mind it all about PRIDE in your work.
I don't think it's a generational thing either. I see old men with the bad work habits and crap attitude.