Art & Inspiration Lost skills and talents . Gone just gone! Kids are our downfall !

Exactly !!!! What’s this ??



No a single kid !!!! Useless !!! Pffft !



Manual windows ????? That’s too hard and offensive !!!!!!



Self driving cars and everything else that’s going on now.
I know I’m making light of it, but seriously driving a manual shift car,
Any kind of real car maintenance or repair,
Any kind of “old school skill” seems to be disappearing.

just like reading hieroglyphs or speaking Latin or the aztec empire, things we take for granted that we just “know” will sadly go extinct!
Am I over reacting ? Probably...... but maybe not..... maybe ?

 

get in your horse and buggy and get out of here old man!

 

Don't forget three on the tree, bet you could stump s lot of kids with that one!

 

Latin and hieroglyphs were replaced due to being obsolete. Much like the items above. All the kids I'm exposed to are pretty much brilliant by the standards of the past, and my six year old is doing things in kindergarten way beyond what kids in the past have done. And he's also interested in turning wrenches, playing cello, and a myriad of other interesting things. So I don't know if it's kids, or people wanting to cling to the past, wave their cane and scream 'get out of my yard ya damn whipper snappers'.

I love history, old stuff (cars, boats, instruments especially), but yeah, that felt like a rant to me.... Lol. Which is fine! Nothing wrong with a good rant sometimes. But I think you're trying to carry water in a paper bag with that....

 

I just thought it was amusing. I’m sure it happens every generation.

 

Kids always thought it was cool when I pushed the windshield out in one of my Model A's.

 

Don’t give up on these kids yet! There are a few that can deal with this stuff. Between me and some friends we are trying to ruin a few at my house and their friends any chance we get.

 

I don’t think you can even get a manual transmission pickup anymore. Hell, all the new company semis the company I’m leased to have bought this year are automatics! Everybody hates them!

 

The observation is acurate. Unfortunatrly the march of the computer age and the IT industry has bent the kids of today into the belief that their electronic marvels will take care of everything. The major problem of the very close future is the complete lack of technicians to take up the NEED for body men, mechanics, electricians, carpenters----You name it. The name appretice or journeyman is far beneath their imagined skill levels of what seems to be kids of today. Bill Rinaldi

 

I teach these kids.
Ever watch one do an engine swap in a fuel injected car?
If this generation is lacking it’s because the past generation failed.
My grandfather knew how to shoe a horse but never passed that knowledge to me.
I guess it wasn’t important.
If this generation can’t recognize these antiquated gizmos, it may be due to vintage car enthusiasts not showing them.
Cant hang a “Do not touch” sign on a car and just expect knowledge or experience to be absorbed through osmosis.
I take young folks for rides in mine, sometimes let them drive. Hand em tools and let em work on it.
If anyone is really concerned, find some young folks and teach them.
Complaining is much easier though.

 

The next time you are at a car show sitting in a chair. You see a kid looking at your car. Let him/her sit in it. tell them about it and teach them something they don`t know. You might just learn something yourself by talking to them. Made quite a few friends by just talking to someone about their car. Bet you didn`t know the passengers door is longer than the drivers on a Pacer. That way you can get in the backseat easier.

 

i hate the modern world. i really do, and could go off on a long rant...but i will spare you all of that. it is enlightening though when i see some younger folks who are not only not offended by the old world, but actually endorse it. keep up the good work those of you working with our youth

 

Ease of maintenance is the quote you will get from the owners. No more clutches to wear, change, adjust. The new touchy feely military started it back in the 70's as they didn't have to teach driving a manual transmission and went to all automatics.
I liked the old headlight dimmer switches as they free your hands up to hold the steering wheel. AM FM radio? They could not even know what dial to turn to tune in an AM station, if you can even find one.

 

I'm with you! I'm convinced I was born in the wrong decade!!!!

 

Honestly
All
Moaning
Boomers

 

Dial type telephone ? what's that ?

 

We were overdue for a “young folks suck” thread.

 

I don't think that all young people fit into the above category, but I will say that many of them are lacking in many areas of life. THE BIG PROBLEM IS MANY HAVE ZERO PEOPLE SKILLS.
Even when they are with friends they really distant. Each one more interested in there smart phone then spending time together.
Technology was meant to enhance our lives not consume it. You can research topics all you want but life is about doing not reading or watching someone else accomplish things.
I feel many young people are so worried about not succeeding that they simply don't try.
I'm so glad that my lady and I have young adults that aren't afraid to fail. That's the only was to move forward.

 

I am too old to be a Baby Boomer

 

Every new generation wants to do things differently from their parent's, leave their mark so to speak.
As we get older, the less we want things to change. It's called a 'comfort zone'.
This has always been the way. The same old complaints about the up and coming generation, repeated over and over throughout eternity. It's time we realised that the only constant is 'change'. Get out of your comfort zone and participate in today.

Footnote: Yeah, they piss me off sometimes too.....................................

 

I am happy to read a few responses about educating the kids about the old stuff. Granted like everything - tech comes and goes, the stuff becomes obsolete and only a few know how to work on 'the neat old stuff' but if you think about it - if you've never been exposed to something like the old cars - then how the hell would you know about it?

So yeah, let the kids have a chance to get their hands dirty touching/working on the old cars, answering their questions genuinely (even if some are really stupid sounding questions) because the moment you answer with the smug 'you kids don't know 'nuthin from anythin' about these old cars - you just killed the little flame of interest, and when we're too old to drive and gone - where do you think our prized vehicles are going to end up?

There's still a chance, teach those lost skills before they're really lost. Yes I'm a teacher. It makes me pretty happy when my students ask me about my 'mob car' (64 chrysler). I got my start with a family friend mechanic who let me help fix our cars. Now I'm teaching my kids these skills. Kids are awesome!

 

Young people just need a mentor when it comes to old school stuff. We needed to rent a bulldozer when ours broke down on the farm when I was in my late 20's. Neighbor rented us a RD6 Cat with a blade. As I was looking at the crank that you use to start the gasoline starting motor that in turn was used to start the diesel engine he said "here, let me show you how to hold the crank that so you won't brake your wrist when it starts" I appreciated that. Point being sometimes without someone to give a little guideance you just don't have a clue.

B

 

It might depend a lot on where you live, around here were a lot of kids still live on farms there are older rigs that have been on the farm for decades that they are very familiar with and those things don't phase them much.

I'd agree 100% with mentor and explain and teach though. Being the arrogant old fart that doesn't take the time to explain things on his older rig doesn't help in the least.

That is not just on cars though it is with hands on skills in general. From the time I was ten or eleven years old and spent about a month with my grand parents each summer until we moved back to my moms house next door from where we lived on Puget Sound my grandfather had a project to do every summer, One year we jacked up the back side of this house and dug out for the foundation it never had before and built a foundation for it, Another year we poured the garage floor in the one car garage that I still use. I did have some knowledge of that because I had done cement work with my step father on his construction jobs. Another year we repaired his 48 Chevy 1 ton that he had rolled a couple of miles from the house and I got in on rebuilding the flat bed for it along with using a jack and what ever I had to push the cab back out in shape. Some of those projects went on during the summers when I was in high school and I still use the skills I learned then.

 

Hey, I put one of them in my car about 6 months ago!
And no, I couldn't just go and pull one out at a wrecking yard.
I asked around, assuming every second person would have at least two or three stashed somewhere (I used to) but no, they were all like me and tossed them.

(Same with cast exhaust manifolds. Decades of swapping them out for headers and no one has cast ones lying in a pile either. Of course I never kept any)

 

"Jedediah, fire up the boiler on the steam cart and get the pitchforks!"

 

I used to sit and watch the young kids go around on the Merry Go Round; I finally jumped on and started having fun with them. But I haven't forgot about sitting in that chair either.

 

My daughter asked my 15 yr old granddaughter to make a call for her.
She picked up her cell and dialed the number........
Suddenly she pulled the cell away from her ear with the weirdest look on her face.
Told her mom there’s a really weird sound coming out of her phone acting like it was broken.
My daughter grabbed the phone only to find it was giving a busy signal.
Now that cracked me up.

 

It's our are job to teach them the old ways. They will love it! I taught both my daughter's, and wife to drive on a manual trans. My one daughter hates an automatic. But we do live in the country, and that does make a difference. I hate driving a manual in city traffic myself. The grandkids always ask to ride in the Nomad when we go anywhere. We still have a land line too. Slot cars instead of video games. They seem to love it. So teach them the old ways of the Force. Ron......

 

Manual windows ?????

At a cruise in car show I frequently attended usually with my Merc, they let the young high school girls (nice kids) that worked there pick the winner, $25 food coupon good at their place, nice small show, not many old cars. One young lady asked about window wind up handle, showed her how it worked, she got the 3 other girls and showed them, I answered all their questions, let them sit in car. I won the meal coupon 3X that season. I never thought about it, I don't think you can buy a vehicle with manual windows for many years now, I have not had a car/truck/SUV without power windows/auto trans/AC since 1970 with the exception of my old cars and most of them I added PW/AC/PS/Tilt wheel/PDB/Auto Trans. I always make it a point to be nice to kids and young men that show up at a shows/cruises/races as I remember being a kid and appreciated when an adult was nice and spoke with me at various events and answered my questions. I have not inspired any of my grandchildren into car hobby as their parents have them real busy, school, sports, music lessons, dancing, etc. etc., none of my 5 kids are car people which surprises me greatly.