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Eric Peterson
- Eric Peterson
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
Interesting question.
I would say that you're born with an inquisitve nature which then propels you to explore how things work which in turn makes you "Handy". If that makes sense. I too consider myself "Handy", but I come from a line of "Handy" people.
"Shoot a few scenes out of focus. I want to win the foreign film award."
Billy Wilder
"This business has come a long way in the last 30 years, but why should I depress you"
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- Joined: October 2006
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I've considered this question a lot, and I've never come up with an answer. I'm very handy, but I had to be growing up. When my car broke down, my father's answer was always something like "you know where the tools are." I also worked on a farm as a teen for an old guy who still probably had the first penny he ever made. If something broke, I generally had to make a go of fixing it, and on the cheap too.
On the other hand, I've seen enough people who are not handy and can't seem to get over that hump no matter what they do to suspect that it is a knack of some sort. I used to think I could do a lot of what I can do just because I'm unafraid to tear into anything (computers, v12 Jaguars, the list goes on). However, I've seen some people try very hard and even tried to help some of them and have seen no progress. I'm guessing it's just a sort of natural talent that some have and some don't (with a million degrees in the middle).
Lay down your law books now, they're no damned good -- The Eagles
- Joined: June 1999
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
My dad ain't no handyman, that's fo' sure. But I can fix stuff when I put my mind to it. I think it helps to have a mind that is able to focus on the task at hand and not get ahead of yourself. Some people just see a confusing mess ahead of them, and give up, others can see the mental flow chart that guide their actions from step-to-step.
"Jee-sus, it's like Iwo Jima out there" - Roger Sterling on "Mad Men"
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JohnRice
- John Rice
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I've always liked fixing things myself as well. I just kind of get a kick out of it and have always had a knack for it. I think the spatial perception thing my be something. I have just always been able to look at things and see how they work. I'm also willing to accept when something is beyond me. One of the springs on my garage door broke. I'm not touching that job. Do something like that without really knowing what you are doing and you could lose a hand.
I was never encouraged to tinker, and my parents are the type who call a plumber to clear a clogged p-trap.
They flutter behind you, your possible pasts.
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
- Joined: May 2002
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I'm selectively handy. I do great with electronics, not so great with cars and things with motors (funny, since my dad's a former mechanic). As someone else said, having a home and knowing certain things can be done yourself makes you dive in out of necessity and financial constraints. Outside of the necessity-driven handiness, I find much of what I know is driven by personal interest. I've never been into cars, so I don't have that much interest in how they work, fixing them myself, etc.
He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it. -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"
- Joined: October 2006
- Location: The Leeward Islands
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I suspect a fair number of people who aren't handy suffer from learned helplessness to some extent. I never had that luxury, fortunately.
Sometimes people amuse me with their unhandiness. I once visited a friend and watched with great entertainment as he tried to get a screw into a bathroom fixture. After about twenty minutes, I offered to help and got it to go in on the first try. The really fun fact here is that the guy later earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, and specializes in designing bolts. I guess the design aspect doesn't transfer over to the mechanical aspect.
Edit: Actually, taking it a step further, it annoys the hell out of me when things are made deliberately difficult. Example, you'd assume that reprogramming a key fob is some sort of high tech task that you need special training to perform, just because they talk about "reprogramming" and bring it to the dealer and so forth. I bought a used Infiniti and the key fob was bad, so I ordered one off of Ebay for a few bucks. It came with instructions, and it was so simple it was astounding (really). I have no idea why it wasn't in the manual (or maybe it was and I just didn't look hard enough
). I hear a dealer will charge a decent amount of money for this, though.
Lay down your law books now, they're no damned good -- The Eagles
- Joined: December 2001
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
This thread reminds me of a quote from The Red Green Show:
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I've always been a hardcore DIY'er. I fix stuff for a living, and trying to instill that natural "I think I can" attitude into my subordinates can be tough. Since we often play the role of the "cleaner," the "final answer" if you will, I'm always asking them "if you can't fix it, who will?" My own mindset (and skill set developed over the years) comes in quite, um, handy.
I like the "runner's high" I get from problem solving.
I think I picked it up from my grandfather. He would never have considered calling someone out to do something that he was physically able to, even when he wasn't really physically able any more.
These days, I'm so stubborn, someone is probably going to have to have an intervention on me to stop from trying to cure my own cancer, should I ever come down with it.
I love to singa, about the moon-a, and the june-a, and the springa...
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I think that, in the majority of cases, being handy is something one is born with. I believe this not because I'm handy myself, but because, like Kurt, I've encountered so many people who are so unteachably UN-handy that, had I not actually had to deal with them, I would be hard-pressed to believe such mechanically unteachable people even existed.
Maybe it's the UN-handy trait that is the exception one is born with...
-Brian
Come, Rubidia. Let's blow this epoch.
- Joined: August 2000
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Re: Why Are Some People 'Handy' ?
I think it has a lot to do with fear. Some people fear trying new things and looking foolish. Other people are afraid of anything to do with electricity. Personally I'm pretty comfortable with anything electrical. I HATE plumbing though because there's zero margin for error and you always feel like you're fighting the clock.
"I'LL SHOW YOU THE LIFE OF THE MIND!!!" - Barton Fink
as he asked just what did I think I was doing. I replied that the mower wouldn't start. He said that it better when I was finished!! I found the issue and put it back together. Started on the second pull.
But IIRC my grandfather was, literally, a handyman (for a living -- I do remember him tinkering around the house).
