8 skills our parents had that we don’t

By Anne Merritt On February 21, 2011 · 87 Comments

When it comes to skills like penmanship and manual driving, mom and dad have got us beat.

My love of baking has always made me feel geeky, a bit granny-ish. In recent years though, Generation Y’s cool kids have all started baking blogs. They also knit, crochet, and grow vegetables in community plots. I once met a very urban couple my age who proudly admitted to making their own cheese. Cheese!

While twentysomethings are often painted as gadget-obsessed, we’re known as a nostalgic bunch too. These homebody hobbies are proof. Some babyboomer skills, however, aren’t trickling down through the generations. Below is a list of things our parents did: talents and hobbies that, however useful, have fallen out of fashion.

1. Driving a Stick

In 1950, half of the cars being bought in the United States were manual transmission. By the start of the millenium, more than 90% of cars purchased were automatic. Our parents may hold onto their manual cars, but as younger generations hit the road, the stick declined in popularity.

Why (pardon the pun) the shift? When the automatic car was first introduced, it was more expensive than manual, and the new technology was met with skepticism from car lovers. Now, automatic cars have levelled out pricewise and won our trust. Parents often feel automatics are safer for their children, as they’re easier to drive and run no risk of burning out the clutch.

People usually drive whatever kind of car they used when learning. My father learned how to drive standard from his dad, but preferred automatic. When it came time for my driving lessons, he hadn’t driven stick in decades.

Photo by Rachel from Cupcakes take the Cake

2. Cooking from Scratch

My father likes to tell me a burn he heard once between gossiping wives, thirty years ago. “She’s the type of woman who would serve a store-bought dessert!”

I love this line for how telling it is of our generational differences. My peers wouldn’t bat an eye at bakery cupcakes or baklava at a dinner party. They’d probably cheer. We may watch Masterchef and sign up for weekend Thai cooking classes, but on average Generation Y cooks less than our parents did.

What’s more, when we do cook, we use more ready-made ingredients than the baby boomers. I’m not just talking brownie mix and instant pudding, but staple items that, in our parents’ day, would be cooked up from scratch. I mean the chicken stock, tomato paste, and ready-made pie crusts that even self-proclaimed foodies keep in their cupboards.

3. Soapmaking

If you made your own soap in middle school, you’ll remember how surprisingly easy it was: lye, water, and animal fat or oil. The cost? Pennies. While past generations would whip up large batches at home, the practice is almost obsolete today.

I remember my granny’s homemade bars of soap: cloudy-looking cut slabs with pointy corners. It was a world apart from the smooth, milky Dove bar in my bathroom today. The humble bar of soap has been branded many times over into a luxurious, multitasking product. Now, commercial soaps have added properties that aren’t easily replicated at home. You can buy a bar that is non-irritating, antibacterial, exfoliating, moisturizing, shaped like a kitty-cat, and smells like Clinique Happy. Even the fancy bars are still fairly cheap.

Photo by soundfromwayout

4. Simple Carpentry

My parents built their dining room table over thirty years ago.

My dining room table is a previous tenant hand-me-down. The one before that? A $70 Ikea number assembled from a box with an Allen key, and sold online when I moved.

Simple carpentry has declined in popularity, and not just because college kids have figured out how to build bookshelves with milk crates and 2x4s.

Furniture is now mass-produced like never before, making it cheaper and easier to replace when redecorating or moving house. Secondhand furniture, which used to mean shabby hand-me-downs from grandparents, has gained chic through fleamarkets and and popularity Craigslist. We can kit out an apartment for cheap without taking to the saw and hammer… though that Ikea Allen key is in the drawer, ever-ready.

5. Knife Sharpening

At a dinner party, an older and ever-practical friend pointed at my knife and asked, “Why don’t you sharpen it? It’s become dull.”

I nodded. “You’re right, I should.” I knew he meant to sharpen the knife myself. He knew I meant paying a professional to do it. Knife-sharpening is (I was told) a simple skill, but definitely on the decline.

With Gen Y-ers eating our more and cooking less, it makes sense that our knives don’t dull as quickly as our parents’ knives. A lot of knives today have no-dull guarantees or free sharpening included in their warranties. Large home supply stores sometimes offer free knife-sharpening too.

As for the Ikea or Target knives that most of my friends have in their kitchens? We don’t mind swallowing the $9 loss and just buying a new one.

Photo by Alyssa Nicole

6. Home Maintenance

Sure, our generation can install an antivirus system and disable a firewall. I’m sometimes called to do so on my parents’ computer, while they eye their PC with wariness and distrust. They call me “handy,” and I know they’re just being nice. I call constantly for advice on banal home issues like replacing fridge lightbulbs.

When it comes to household maintenance, though, it seems we’re not nearly as handy as our folks. Faced with a leaky pipe or a door fallen off its hinges, Generation Y is more inclined to call a professional for help (or… our dads).

In the 1970s, over 70% of men learned basic home repair skills from their fathers. Now, the number is at 40%.
Why the decline? While our parents bought houses in their twenties, ours is a generation of renters, subletters, and condo dwellers. If something breaks, we can (and do) get a landlord to fix it.

7. Mending

My mother’s sewing supply kit takes up a full dresser drawer. Mine is a Ziplock bag of complimentary thread-and-shitty-needle packs, pocketed from hotel rooms. Even sadder? My “kit” gets borrowed a lot. I’m the prepared one among my peers. Yikes.

Most baby boomers can alter hemlines, sew on buttons, and mend rips in their clothing. Generation Y, not so much. Though many twentysomethings learn the basics of sewing from parents or in school, they’re rarely put into practice.

With the rise of cheap clothing retailers (H&M, Primark, Target), fashion has become a disposable, replaceable commodity. Our penchant for picking up cheap secondhand clothes affirms this too.

When we do have a piece that needs tailoring, we take it to a professional. Also, some people just get their moms to mend their clothes. You know who you are.

Photo by kpwerker

8. Cursive Writing

I’ve been conscious of penmanship ever since, two years ago, a Japanese student asked to see me write in “beautiful” cursive. I took my pen to paper, and only after a few blushing tries could I finally remember how to do it. “I’m sorry,” I told her, “I haven’t written like this since I was a child.” I’m sure that even my third grade self would have done a nicer job.

It turns out, most of Gen Y is in the same boat, Our parents learned penmanship as a valuable art, practicing it with hand-written essays and letters all through their lives. For me and my peers, the penmanship skills we learned in school have faded from lack of use. Our technophile generation rarely writes by hand, except for scribbling notes to ourselves. Though we can email, text and tweet more easily than our parents, mom and dad would smoke us when it comes to neat handwriting.

Cursive writing, according to teachers, helps muscle control and hand-eye coordination. Funny, my students say the same thing about the Nintendo DS.

About The Author

Anne Merritt

Anne Merritt has lived in Canada, Europe, and Asia. She teaches ESL, writes, haggles, hikes, and wears sunscreen fanatically. Her work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, GoOverseas.com, and The Compass. Check out her blog.

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http://onceatraveler.com Turner

Scary, isn’t it?
Fern

Hm, not sure how much I agree with this. I’m a 17-year-old in the UK, and I can drive a manual (most cars are manual here), I cook most things from scratch (often including bread), sharpen knives, change lightbulbs, alter and mend my clothes and write cursive.

huddie

Good for you Fern, but are you typical ? I think not.

seb

Are you listening? Despite your unbelief, Fern is indeed quite typical. Fern is not American. This list is mainly a list of things that Americans have forgotten how to do. Many of the items (like driving a stick shift, writing cursive and cooking from scratch) are things that everyone on other continents still knows how to do quite well, thank you.

dxr

Oh god, so quick to say “American” this or that. I am 20 and I am American and I can do probably everything on that list except make soap. I don’t always CHOOSE to, but I could if I wanted to.
Abe

Right! This list should be renamed to “8 skills American parents had that Younger Americans Don’t” I’m from Singapore and its really quite difficult to find an automatic car here. Most of us drive manual. Furthermore, Singaporean households rarely buy ready-to-eat ingredients from grocery stores. Most of our cooking is still “done from the scratch”

Actually

I’m 21 and from the UK. These skills are fairly typical of someone of my age.
G reg

29yo male – I’m also 7/8. I also grow a large portion of my own food, can it, freeze it, dry it out, or pickle it, to preserve it. I hunt for meat in the winter. Its going to be funny when a solar flare knocks out communications and electronic devices and Gen Y’ers don’t know what to do with themselves. Did I mention I live 10 min from Washington DC.

http://www.RyanShinn.com Ryan

Wow! You do all of that and are less than an inch tall. You are impressive.
John

For all of you exclaiming, “I’m XX y/o and I can do all these things…” Yes, yes – I can too. However, we ARE the outliers (if the people saying this are Americans). I’m 33 y/o and I can do all of these things, but my friends call me a “renaissance man” and “MacGuyver”. This is quite true and representative of your typical American. If you want to get depressed over it consider that most youth-to-middle-aged in this country probably couldn’t tackle these tasks either:
- Finding the right breaker and flipping it in your home circuit box
- Changing a tire
- Jumpstarting a car
- Check the oil and tire pressure
- Tying a worthwhile knot
- Start a camp or fireplace fire
- Use a map
- Read a logarithmic scale graph
- Mental math
- Tell which way is North without a smartphone (even using a compass…)

Justin

I think a lot of people are going to confuse sharpening a knife with honing a knife. There’s quite a big difference.

http://www.cuadernoinedito.wordpress.com Julie

I was feeling pretty good about myself since I can do 1 and 2 (and am about to make some homemade pasta from scratch!) reasonably well. I can still write in cursive, too (but just learned it’s no longer being taught in schools in my hometown!). But when I got to 3-7, my confidence waned. Those ARE all things my parents can do, but which I didn’t try to learn from them. Definitely my loss.
http://www.kaleidoscopicwandering.com JoAnna

One thing my dad can do that I always admired was read a compass. I own a compass, but heck if I’d find my way out of the woods with it.
Jason

3 & 7 are the only one I have not tried. Of course, my dad is a “man’s man” & my mom is often referred to as “slow-money” so I was raised w/ many of these thrifty, non-wasteful techniques. The older I get, the luckier I realize I was, as I have taught many of my friends these things, or I get that odd look, of, “you did this yourself?”.
Rohan

Hmm..
interesting.
Though I must say that except for soap making ( which I’ve done only afew times) everything seems to be a part of daily life to me . Even then, everyone I know uses natural products from time to time as the synthetic ones just don’t come close.

And do adults really not write in cursive? Seriously? I mean, I can’t even write in block writing for long without reverting to cursive.

Or maybe it’s because I’m from a different cultural background.

though I am sure most sub urban people in USA are also used to same conditions.
Then again, I really don’t know.
Kathy

I had to learn to drive a stick shift when I bought my first car because it was cheaper and that was enough motivation. But I doubt seriously if I could shift one of those on-the-steering-wheel shifters from vintage ’50′s cars. I would have no idea which way to push/pull the thing to get to the next gear.

Neat article and listing!

Warren

Up and toward you is reverse. Down for first. Up and away from you is second and down from there is third. That is it. Takes a little while to get used to, but you get used to anything.

http://www.sophiesworld.net Sophie

I’m with Fern above. Over here, we still do most of these things.
Hank Fox

Counting change without a computer register.
adam

Man, everyday people suck. I’ve done all these things, and still do. We’re finding ourselves in a world where luxury is beginning to be synonymous with hand made.
Saji

Unless you are born after the 2000. You should be able to do atleast 4 of these.
SomeGuy

Out Los Angeles way, very different. All of my friends do everything but soap making and cursive, and it’s mostly because our parents do none of those thing. Our grandparents had all the tools and did all that stuff, but our parents all sold them or threw them away.
happy

i enjoyed this article.
TrangoZango

Wow, I feel really good cause I can do all eight! Nice!

http://www.being-anon.tk
Matt

I’ve heard this lament before, but it’s really just history repeating itself. Our great grandparents couldn’t make flint tools. Our grandparents couldn’t make a log cabin. Our parents, and many of our grandparents, couldn’t hitch up a horse to a cart let alone drive a 4 horse team.

What we must remember is that while these skills aren’t necessary for our day to day lives, they are not being lost either. With extra time and extra resources not available to our forefathers, we can hone a select craft to professional levels in our spare time. Life’s not any worse off today, it’s just different.

Mike

Well said Matt.
Jeanne Black

Matt makes the most sense! We are skillful at things we need to teach our kids so they will be able to preserve our current level. Especially good to pass down family traditions and memories.

Shawn

I’m 26 and I can do every one of these things except the soapmaking.
William

Well. Most Americans have more disposable income than our European brethren (as well as cheaper merchandise), so it’s no surprise that we do less manual chores. It’s interesting about the comment that cursive writing is still common in the UK. I went to British school for 2 years in the late 80′s and learned “joined-up writing” (it is essentially just joined print). When I got back to the U.S. in 5th grade I had to spend many an hour learning proper cursive .
Sam S.

I can do all of these things (I’m 30), but I refuse to cursive write because I believe it’s not a skill but more akin to self inflicted torture.
Qix

If you read much history things kind of thing works in cycles. Our parents and grandparents needed those skills to get by. Where as we do not. Computers are part of everyday life instead.

After the fall of Rome literacy was in the same position. It was not part of normal life, a luxury, and was lost to a huge portion of the European world. Luckily the eastern half of the Roman empire kept its enemies at bay long enough for the west to recover and bring about the renaissance and with it, literacy.

If the US economy keeps going the way it is, all these things listed above will become part of everyday life again, and everyone will know how to do them. Computers will become more of a luxury and less people will grow up with and around them.

http://annemerritt.blogspot.com Anne M

A very good point, Qix. Though statistics say that these skills are declining, the comments on this article show that many are the exception to that trend. I wonder if the poor economy will lead to a resurgence of these skills.

Jimmy Stevens

An interesting point, but silly to think that computers are going to be a luxury item. Computers are getting cheaper, and the vast majority of people in the civilized world would go without eating to have one. You won’t see a decline in computer usage. For the same reasons that movies became huge during the Great Depression, people in this recession need their escapism. More over, computers are now the primary method of communication with friends, family and business.

Jo

I’m twenty, and I can do everything on this list. Who made this list?
Lucie

Reheating leftovers in a skillet!
I remember my mom would reheat Kraft Dinner for my lunch the next day (I was under five at the time) and I remember it didn’t taste as good as when it was just made.

As for the rest, I can cook, but don’t always take the time; I can replace a button, but I can’t hem my pants; I have never made my soap (sounds so harsh on your skin!); I can do some basic basic carpentry, but not much more.
Tony Y

I don’t get the soap making thing. Soap making at home hasn’t been popular since the early 20th century aka my great grandparents, and even then that would only have been the case in rural settings.
http://www.gorgeousworld.net/ Eric

I tried a manual transmission…let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. Funny, but not pretty.
Chris

I’m seven out of eight for performing on at least a semi-regular basis and I’m younger than I think the author looks. And if she thinks driving a stick in a modern vehicle is hard, she should try an old car with an unsynchronized transmission like the ones all our grandparents and many of our parents learned in.
http://wallynes.muppets.ws Wally

Wow
7/8 here. Making soap? No thanks, that’s fine. Pretty sure my parents only did this in a workshop/school once only. I’ve certainly never heard of them making soap during their lean years.

Everything else I can do. And do do.
But yeah, as an engineering student when I ran out of electric-jigsaw blades building my bed I called all my friends and they didn’t even have a saw to borrow.
http://matadornetwork.com/nights Kate

I write longhand every day, do home repairs (minor ones), do mending at least once a month and bake from scratch all the time. I can build things with wood (when I’ve got the tools), and sharpen the knives when they’re dull. And my parents taught me to! I’d be mad at them if they hadn’t. I’m still kind of mad that my dad thought it was too dangerous to teach me to change the oil in the car (could fall and smash Kate).

I regret not knowing how to drive a stick. I feel dumb about that and couldn’t rent a car in Chile because of it (d’oh!). And aside from the soap-making, I think anyone can learn to do these things.

What about a post about things people wish they could learn? I could see a whole series about that, really. Lots of these save me lots of money.
Corey

I can do all but soapmaking…….your article is moot.
noname

Well I learned a lot of these skills, such as driving a manual, home repairs etc because I hate to waste money. I drive a lot on the highway and the manual car gets better mileage. Any home repairs or renovations I do myself because of the high prices charged by contractors and since I am a licensed electrician I can do all my own electrical work. I picked up some carpentry skills while doing electrical work too and can do basic plumbing.
DF

As a 19 year old living in Canada, I’m disappointed by the presumption of this article. Not only do I know how to sharpen a knife, fix basic pipe welds and do excellent carpentry, I can also cook for myself to boot, and have been cursive writing since I was very little.

I think this article is definitely missing perspective on why a lot of these things have disappeared. For example, why is it that one should know how to make soap? Seriously. Unless you’re Bear Grylls and living on a mountain for your entire life, it’s doubtful you need to waste the time out of your day to make soap when it is just as easily purchased from the store, not only in larger qualities but in healthier forms for your skin and body. Likewise with mending, who needs to know how to hem a pair of pants when I can go to the store and find my size anyways? And don’t bring up the reparation garbage, a lot of clothes sold today are designed not to be mended, because corporations have discovered that makes them more money.

I don’t mean to be so aggressive against this article, but it just sounds to me like somebody decided to complain a bit whilst wearing some rose coloured glasses of the past. Perhaps I’m the exception to the rule, but most people I know nowadays can at the very least sharpen their knives or find a way to fix things in their houses. Besides, if they can’t, it only serves to create more jobs for other people. In fact, the reason a lot of people live without these skills today is simply because the labour is there, and somebody not only needs to work it, but those workers also need a take home pay for the economy to survive.

P.S. As for the cash register comment, as somebody who has worked in large supermarket chains, counting change simply becomes tedious and wastes time for everyone. If you have food in your basket, you don’t want it to get to warm and spoil correct? When the time to count change for every customer compounds, it gets to the point where there are many customers who’ll spend hours in line alone at a store simply because it is far too busy and the cashier is taking too long. Sometimes machines take away skills in our lives that we would do better not to lose, however often times that is not the intent and even more often they provide a convenience or service that is invaluable to operate without.

http://annemerritt.blogspot.com Anne M

You raise some good points about the upside to these declines. Some of these skills are livelihoods, and the lower rates of mending and home repair means more work for tailors and plumbers. Some of these skills, like making soap instead of buying it, are just more time consuming and don’t save you that much money in the end.

I know there are a lot of twentysomethings who can do many of these tasks I listed. I can do a handful myself. This information came from statistics that showed patterns of decline in skills. Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re obsolete, or even close to it. Case in point: you and the other commenters saying that they have these skills.

I’m especially impressed that most people you know can sharpen knives. I’m from Canada too, and I know maybe one person my age who can do that. Kudos.

Evaldas

Nice. I most certainly do 7 of those 8 as I need to… And I’m 20.
http://onceatraveler.com Turner

Survival skills in an urban environment aside, it’s really embarrassing how little most of us know about the way things work and how to cope when a trusted machine becomes inoperable.
http://www.familyrambling.com Jody

I think you’ll find many in the American heartland who still have these skills. I learned to drive on a stick shift in the late 80′s. Many things you list became considered as “rural” in the 70′s and 80′s with the incoming “why make it when you can buy it” mentality- with the exclusion of cursive writing, that is.

In addition to everything listed I can also kill, pluck and de-bone a chicken and milk both cows and goats.

While your article does a good job of pointing out how little we do for ourselves anymore, I think it may have presumed too much.
Matt

People are dumb. Most of these aren’t even hard.

Though I admit I don’t write cursive anymore. I remember most of the letters, but never had a reason to write in it since I graduated high school.

And I don’t drive a stick. Never owned one.
Jimmy Stevens

I’m an American, and most of these things were true of me too — but they ceased when I bought my own house. Simple carpentry and home maintenance are necessary to figure out or I’d be paying a fortune. The same goes for cooking — I can’t afford to eat out every night, and while I don’t often make my own tomato paste, I try to cook as much from scratch as possible. And seriously? Sharpening knives? It’s not a skill — you just run a knife along a sharpener. Just get a sharpener! One came with my cheapo knife set.

I learned to drive on a manual and love it, but it’s not practical anymore, so I have an automatic. Cursive and soap making? OK, you got me there, although I’ve never known anyone to make their own soap. My parents used Ivory growing up.

Bottom line — most of this was true of me when I was 20 to 25. I’m 30 now, and I think most of this comes with that point when you hit your 30′s and decide it’s time to grow up, and have to prioritize expenses.
ME

I can most of these things and I’m only 24. I learned to drive on a stick and if that’s what I have to drive sweet I’ll still smoke everyone off the line!! Yea yea waste the gas i can hear my dad say.
I don’t make everything from scratch like pasta but I don’t always buy packets to season my food or premade box food just add water I have those things in my house for just incase whatever comes up or im so tired I need a to do something n fast.
Sharpening knives (kitchen knives) I use to do when I was younger but now that I’m older I havn’t had to honestly!
I’ve never made bar soap but laundry soap (very simple, lasts longer, and in the long run much cheaper)
Cursive I can write using it n it doesn’t look all too neat, but its not a skill that I don’t have or if life depended on it I’d have it.
Sewing I can’t do too well… I don’t hem my own pants but I can sew a hole shut or fix a seam if its coming loose.
Home maitence I’d prolly ask someone what could of caused it and how might I fix it and see if someone would maybe help me! Changing bulbs or the water leaks just tighten it, the dead bolt on the door is loose simple fix. If it comes to the toilet, boiler, furnace other stuff like that I’d call a repair man!!
Carpentery…. Never made anything my self everything i have now has been given to me!! I don’t think it would be too hard though and if you show me how then or just give me the tools I’d figure it out!!
I don’t wanna be the next female that needs a man for everything and I’m very happy being independent and doing it on my own!!
American X-Gen

I’m a middle Gen-X-er, raised on TV and tv dinners, but I can do all that with exception of making soap. (Liquid, baby!) I was raised in the suburbs and quite proud I can do these things. My mother, a baby-boomer cannot.
Chris

Cursive? Really? How can cursive not be taught any longer? I think that was pretty much all I learned in primary school…..
the internet

Curse you for even mentioning cursive writing. Impractical skill wasted years of my time learning it.
Konstantin

I’d say in the larger part of Europe these skills are pretty well preserved… along with bunch of new ones
Colby

Are these things really such a loss? For instance, our appendix is all but useless, is it not? Knife sharpening, to me, is such as my appendix. Im pretty sure I will do just fine without it, as well as growing my own food. For the time it would take to do those, I find that I have better returns elsewhere in my spent time, such as developing my musical abilities or exercising. I have only in the past year (I am a 24 year old male who recently graduated 4year university) learned how to drive a stick, and that was because I was curious as to how hard it was an figured if there was ever a time i was in an emergency, it could come in handy. Chances are, i can go the rest of my life without needing that skill, and how many other skills are like that? Did the time i spend on my computer rather than learning carpentry apply more or less now that I am getting into the business world?

I am not trying to argue the value of those skills; sure, there will most likely always be a place for them. I am simply arguing the fact that, for myself and lot of my american peers, these things just aren’t worth the time it takes to learn them rather than some of the other things that are expected of us. Time is the most valuable resource, and i feel i get better utilization out of spending it on other things than these “skills.”
Los Rockwell

Your all fools i have 7 of the eight skills above. Who needs soapmaking anyways
Bleue

Many have hit upon this already but I think the point merits being made again: The author’s assumption that the average person, or maybe she meant american, can’t drive stick, cook, renovate, sew, sharpen a knife or write with pen and paper is simply offensive. Making soap is a rather esoteric skill that must be two generations removed at least now, so let’s just ignore that one. People who can’t do all these things are probably common enough, but I think we’d be hard pressed to find people who can’t do any of these things.

I think from a lifestyle standpoint we’ve become less and less self reliant, who needs to remember anything when we have pocket devices with which to look them up on google, but that’s just it: I rarely cook a turkey but if ever the need arises how hard is it to look up a recipe? I sharpen my knives regularly but there are many many tutorials on the net should I become amnesiac. Carpentry requires tools I guess but these are cheap and readily available, and the increased popularity of DIY home renovation and reno stores belies the author’s premise.

It’s true that these skills are no longer the focus of our lives. I guess, when judgement impaired, I can sometimes think back to the wonderful 50s and think that cooking and taking care of the house were what my parents were best at, which would probably as as wrong as the modern day assumption that we can’t do these things anymore. There are things we truly do much less than our, if not parents then grandparents. Bread making and cheese making would be two, horse riding, long form writing and reading (IE letters) and mental arithmetic. In fact rote learning overall is probably a disappearing thing. Gardening may be on the decline, as is making preserves. But I doubt many people can’t do any of the things on this list and I certainly would not characterize any of them, with the exception of soap making, as disappearing.
Chris

These lists should be called “Everything I, the writer, am to lazy to learn”. Frankly, as a 31 year old web designer living in San Francisco, I can do almost all of these things, except cooking from scratch. I also know a lot of people who can do these things. My parents, on the other hand can’t do everything on this list, and my dad was raised on a farm. It’s all about priorities, but I love how people try to blame things on being from a different generation.
Larry

Positive: EVERYONE stayed on topic! (Surprise! Refreshingly different from sports blogs.)

Negative: Too many have taken this as a challenge as to whether they have these skills. (Probably no one on this blog is incapable of doing any of these.)

My lacks: I cannot even FIND my beloved Swiss army knife in my messy room, and when I do I swear I will sharpen the two blades (Scissors don’t need sharpening)! I have two cars, and neither the Corolla or the XK-8 has a manual transmission (I loved my $850 Passat with the 5-speed manual).

My strengths: I can correct expressions like “For my peers and I” to “For me peers and ME” without worrying that someone may challenge my strong argument for the former being bad English.

My hope: I want to do several of the things on this short list (good article!) and a thousand more that I could name… given the hours it would take!

Reading all of your replies has been a good experience.

http://matadortravel.com/travel-community/nickrowlands Nick Rowlands

Ouch. Good eyes, Larry – “For my peers and I” now changed. Thanks!

Larry

Ouch for me too, Nick! I had a typo in there. I really meant to write:

“For MY peers and me.”

I used to proofread my own mother’s caring letters to me when I was far from home, and I make so many mistakes myself!

You are very quick, sir.

This article has proved to be so stimulating.

http://www.Savvy-Writer.com Rebecca

Great article! I’ve been working on my penmanship. Each night when I journal, I write in cursive. I would love to learn how to drive a 5-speed. One of my goals is to run the Amazing Race. I need and want to learn how to drive a manual transmission because most of the cars have a manual transmission. I want to be able to get into the car and race to the finish line!
Corinne

Yes, when reading this article, I was checking things off too, seeing if I was worthy to deem myself, a US college student, useful, and not enslaved by cheap goods and technology…isn’t what most people that love travelling would like to say about themselves?

But whether or not that’s the case, the point is not to be offended and state whether or not I defy the norms in this list. This is a wonderful article, and thank you for bringing up such a great questions. At the very least, I’ll have something fun to discuss with my parents the next time I go home!

The comment about Gen Y baking blogs is so very true, though…good catch!
http://therangelife.wordpress.com Christina Koukkos

Great article – food for thought!

Reading it, I realized that a lot of the rationale for the loss of these skills is the American disposable-stuff culture (along with disposable income, noted above). If more people in the US (re)learn these skills, just think of the dumps that will stay empty! At least until our latest digital device poops out and we chuck it.

It’s great to hear that so many fellow Matador readers, especially those outside the US, still use these skills. But beware, non-Americans: we’re ridiculously good at exporting our bad habits! Heh heh.
c

This is fairly pathetic. I thought Gen Y was more environmentally conscious? What’s with the disposable attitude?I’m going to assume there was no real study done of attitudes and behaviors but this is the author’s clearly limited perspective. I think it is very wrong to state this as the norm, North America is a big continent-surely we are a more diverse group. To whatever degree this is true, it reflects a decline in home economics and ‘shop’ class, as well as writing-certainly with texting the abuse of the English language is rampant. In any case, these should not be points of pride or even excuses, it would be better to make them starting points for developing more skills. For the record 30 years ago is not ancient history, and the idea of the flat pack has been around since the mid-19th century.
Taylor

Man, some braggy folks up in here. Great article, and pertinent for a buy-and-dispose-of society as many Western ones have become, and many Eastern are headed toward.

Would have liked to see some resources on how to learn the more complex things on the list, such as carpentry and soapmaking, however.

Jenn

Taylor, you asked for soapmaking resources. The book I learned from is “Smart Soapmaking” by Anne L. Watson. It’s not written for a chemist but she gives the basic chemistry of soapmaking that is easy to comprehend so you understand HOW and WHY it works. It gives tested recipes as well as enables you to create your own recipes with different kinds of oils once you get the basics down.

Two internet sites I have found extremely helpful are
Majestic Mountain Sage http://www.thesage.com/index.html and
Bramble Berry Soap Making Supplies http://www.brambleberry.com/Cold-Process-Soaps-W2C146.aspx.
There are other good sites, these are just two of my personal favorites.

http://jasminewanders.com Jasmine

LOL too true… though I do write in cursive all the time, soap making? Definitely not. As far as cooking, I´d agree that Americans utilize more ready-made products than other places.

If I was at home, a lot of these tasks I´d need help with. If I had something to mend, I´d ask my grandma, home maintenace goes to my dad.

I´m embarrassed I don´t drive a stick, in other countries they´re the norm rather than the exception so it´s definitely on my to-do list!

Great article
http://www.sweeneysays.com Nicole

I feel like the sum of this list is: self-sufficiency. As we come up with new and improved ways to do less, we, as a whole, are less capable. This was well written and entertaining, so I guess it was equal parts amusing and depressing. Definitely a worthwhile read.
Judith

I’m a boomer who remembers her mother’s Depression-era poem (passed on from HER mother): “Use it up / Wear it out / Make it do / or do without.” Still a useful agenda in our over-consuming age for those who’d like to be more green in their living.
My mother could use scraps to create sometimes more interesting treats than the originals, e.g. using left-over pie crust cuttings, rolling out the dough again, covering it with butter/cinnamon/sugar, rolling it up into a flute and cutting it into small pinwheels we called “stickies.” 35 minutes in a 325 degree oven, and YUM.

Amy

We call them “whirly-gigs” in our house. I was just telling my husband yesterday that I really wanted some like my grammie used to make (her crust was the best I’ve ever had).

http://www.wrinklecreamreview.org/ Colly

The time management and family management skills were awesome in my mom. She was able to handle any number of guests at home. I really feel she was great as far as such skills are concerned.
Jenn

I have a fascination for “old-fashioned” skills and crafts. True, so many skills are no longer needed at this time, but I feel that one day they very well may come in handy and prove useful, perhaps even life-sustaining. But if that day never happens, it is so deeply rewarding to look at clothing I have sewn, bread I have baked, and soap I have made, knowing I can provide these basic necessities for my family and friends.

I don’t get all the negativity regarding soapmaking. Yes, I make soap. In my kitchen. From milk I get from my goats and lard I have rendered from a pig I helped butcher, but you certainly don’t have to go that far. Homemade soap is making a comeback, especially soaps with specialty oils that are far better for your skin than the bars of detergent (very few real soaps out there) you find in the stores today. This isn’t grandma’s harsh, stinky lye soap you may remember from your childhood.

It is actually very simple to make soap. Most of the equipment needed can be found in your kitchen, and basic ingredients such as olive oil, shortening, lard, and even coconut oil can be found in the supermarket or local health food store. 100% lye will be the tough one to find for most folks, so thankfully nearly anything can be found online.

The process, though simple, requires thorough understanding before attempting. Lye can be a bit intimidating at first and demands respect, but it’s easily dealt with when understood and safety precautions taken. It’s easier to learn to make soap than to learn to drive a manual transmission vehicle, trust me.

Oh, and I also make cheese, which is also trickier to make than soap.
http://sillygoose.ca Dan

Manual transmission cars are still cheaper.. and faster and better
http://www.337design.com/ Drun

I think my mom was great at all the kinds of home tasks. We will never be able to become an expert like her. Things have really changed now and there are many things which are different now. I wish to get all their energies.
Malaria

So… you just described most Europeans.
http://cruisetheoceanswithemma.com/ emma

Driving stick is about driving. Driving an automatic is about being a passenger. Driving stick is a participatory experience. Driving an automatic is not. Driving stick requires skill and concentration and multi-tasking. Driving an automatic is nonsense by comparison. If you can’t drive stick, you can’t drive. All you do is leave and arrive.

I’m waiting for the research to come out that says that most motorway accidents occur with automatics, because the drivers are paying less attention. If anyone does the research, I have no doubt that’s what it will say. How on earth do you even stay awake on a long drive?!
http://jocy.yelp.com jocy

So true on home maintenance. My boyfriend just looks at me when I’m trying to fix the door knob at home. It’s another world to him!
Kelsie

I love driving manual, I hope they never stop making them because I will always choose to drive a manual car over an automatic. I do wish I was more handy around the house though. I’m guilty of calling my parents for that one.
Ann

I’m only fifteen and I’m pretty proud to say that I can do everything but number three. It’s nice living all my life at a conservative community sometimes <3
http://www.driftingfocus.com Kelsey

I’m proud to say that I can actually do all of these!
CB

Wow, you really dont think much of us Gen Y-ers, do you? Frankly I am somewhat offended. I know how to cook from scratch, drive stick, do basic carpentry, repair my home, and write in cursive. I will probably teach any of my future kids at least some of this stuff, as I think many of my cohorts will.

Honestly I understand you want to use “we” to try and include yourself into my cohort (bad move, we dont like intruders or phonies), but please take up the habit of speaking for yourself. Just because you are hopelessly inept does not mean everyone else from 1990 is.

MG

CB, I don’t think it’s at all a matter of the author thinking little of the readers of this article. It is excellent that you have the ability and the know-how to do all of the above, but let’s not be naive enough to believe that the majority of the readers of this blog are as self-sufficient. I say that not in a condescending manner, but as a fact. This generation, though varied, is not nearly as self-sufficient as the generations before us. These tasks, easy as they may be, are not often performed in the same way they used to be. This article was completely relevant and on point. Referring to the author as “hopelessly inept” made your entire argument look foolish, as there was no reason to be insulting, was there? As mentioned, I think that it’s great that you possess all of the skills listed above, but perhaps you ought accept that not everyone is so fantastically adept as you claim to be, and that perhaps rather than berating someone who wrote a rather good article, you could see it for what it is – a very accurate portrayal of what society is today.

Sorcha

Its kinda weird that lots of people dont do these? I live in Ireland and do all of these…. except for the soap making and carpetery of course ^.^
and like im not old, im only 18?
Andrew

Ummm, as a 22 year old male, I know lots of people my age who can do most of these. Home maintenance and carpentry have always been apart of my life. Knife sharpening and soap making are things I taught myself. Mending just makes sense. Baking from scratch and stick shifting is how I grew up. My cursive isn’t pretty but readable.

Most of my friends probably do all but the baking and soap making. It’s all about stretching the dollar. My fiance can usually get groceries close to the price of the tax a on the retail value because she coupons (7-10%). It’s not that we are poor, we have both grown up in middle class families, we just know how to manage money and time.
claire-helene

oh my, i’m 30, am i so old? i only know how to write in cursive, we didnt learn other one at school!
Anonymous

In Europe almost everyone drives manual. So do I and I have tested both, my preference goes, obviously, to manual. Who learned to drive in manual can drive automatic for sure, but not the other way.

8 skills our parents had that we don’t

1. Driving a Stick

2. Cooking from Scratch

3. Soapmaking

4. Simple Carpentry

5. Knife Sharpening

6. Home Maintenance

7. Mending

8. Cursive Writing

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