What are you good at? What do you know how to do? One thing I have found to be invaluable to being more independent and self sufficient is knowing how to do things.
I’m talking about being a jack of all trades, someone who can do most anything, and the things you don’t know how to do, you should be able to figure it out enough to get by, or at the very least, have enough other skills to trade/barter with someone else who can do that one thing you can’t.
A generation or two ago, people knew how to do more, they HAD TO, there wasn’t any free money laying around to buy another widget when it broke, you had to fix it, make do or do without. Sons learned from their fathers, uncles and such, daughters learned from their mothers, aunts and such. It’s really sad that this is becoming a lost art, passing down knowledge to the younger generation, and people are going to be in trouble as a result.
Dad’s would fix their own car, they would do their own maintenance on their vehicles, homes and motors. They would fix their own electrical, plumbing and carpentry problems. They weren’t necessarily experts, but they could patch something to keep it going.
Mom’s would cook ALL the meals, they would sew clothes, they would patch clothes, they were the first aid/first responder when blood was flowing.
Do you know WHY they did all of these things? Because they HAD TO, they didn’t have the money to pay for someone else to come in and fix something or to go out and buy a new one…
This is a really sad set of skills that is being slowly lost, unfortunately many young people now days, their biggest skill is typing quickly with their thumbs…
I know this doesn’t represent ALL youth of today, I see many here begging for a place to get started, saying they are hard working, and have experience in the building trades…
I would suggest, very strongly suggest that if you aren’t well versed in being a jack (or jill) of all trades, that you figure out a way to get there, and soon, time is passing by, things aren’t getting any better in this world, if you really want to be more self sufficient, then you NEED to know how to do things to be self sufficient, and sorry but rapid thumb typing isn’t a skill that will get you very far IF TSHTF.
What about you? Are you a jack (or jill) of all trades? Can you fix things? What areas are you lacking? What do you need to do to get in better shape skill wise?
4 Responses
I was recently asked if there was anything I couldn’t do? I had to laugh, but my reply was “I’m sure there is but I haven’t found it yet!” My husband & I built our current home, (and my pride and joy is my 11ft tall, 16ft wide stone fireplace that I hand picked every single stone) and we ended up finding a passion for construction that has now become our business. I do custom cakes in my spare time, I recently lost 60lbs and instead of getting rid of some of my favorite clothes, I found a way to alter them and make them an integral part of my current wardrobe. My husband does all the repairs on our vehicles, and last winter when we were quiet, I asked my hubby to teach me to weld, and I built my bush bumper for my truck. I love learning new things, and not having to rely on anyone else in order to get through day to day. That being said, I do appreciate when people choose to hire us to do the things that they don’t want to try to tackle on their own, so that we can pay our bills. :)
Journeyman electrician 30 years in Michigan, traded for low voltage license in New Mexico. 15 year metal working machinist. NICET Level II engineering certified Fire Alarms & CCTV. Handy to know about even in a crisis or total shutdown. These things will come in to play as a warning, a nuisance to be disabled, or utilized as a defense. Worked in the modular housing industry in the 70’s and can do all electrical, plumbing, sweat copper and bond PVC, framing, drywall, hanging and mudding, expert at smooth joints. Designed and utilized solar power for my own outdoor events sound system since 2005. Just designed and installed my house or ‘pack and go’ solar. Cook deliciously on/off-grid and eat healthy. Musician. Entertainment can help calm situations, relieve boredom, and be used to barter. Think of the movie, ‘The Sound of Music’.
The main problem with the contraptions built nowadays is that they are designed EXPRESSLY not to be repaired, but replaced instead. The card readers for automobiles for example list the items which the onboard computers tells them may be wrong. So instead of testing one component at a time, they replace all of them and charge the customer (All fixed and ready to go).
Frustrating it is. And the time it takes to find the components on-line (because the stores rarely have the part on shelf – special order item) takes even more time – patience.
Scotty on Starship Enterprise called in right – the more complicated it is, the easier it is to break.
Never really thought being a JOAT would ever come in handy, but I see the time coming. In this specialized world we live in, most JOATs aren’t really appreciated.