Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

There are individual sports. They don't have to be about teamwork, or even competition. Dormin mentioned hunting and fishing. Golf,bowling, and tennis are examples as well. There are still codes of conduct for those sports.

And, yes, independence is important to pass on to the kids.

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SHMIV wrote:I

On the topic of changing tires, since Dorm brought it up, my sister has a boyfriend in high school, and they went out in her car, one night. Shortly after they left, my father received a call from my sister, who had gotten a flat tire, and she asked him to come help her.

Well, Dad got there, and realized that this boy was with her. Come to find out, this boy was clueless about changing tires. So, Dad gave the kid a brief rundown on tire changing theory, showed him the required tools, then Dad and Sister sat in Dads car as the boy changed his first tire... in the rain, on a cold winter night. I'm pretty sure that the relationship ended, shortly after that. I don't think that boy appreciated why he was obligated to change a tire, and my sister didn't rightly appreciate a boyfriend who would complain about changing her tire.

I had two daughters, but I showed them how to do basic car maintenance. One daughter actually took auto shop, then worked for the county in their parts warehouse, complete with overalls and safety boots.

One day when I was changing the oil in one of our cars, she brought a boy over. He saw me working, and asked me "hey Mr. W, whachadoin?" I told him I was changing the oil. He replied "COOL! You know how to do that?" as if I was doing a complete overhaul or something really difficult.

On another story - We had a large oak tree cut down a couple of months ago. I'm a cheapskate, so I told the tree guy to just get it on the ground, and I'll take it from there. I have a small chainsaw and a pickup truck, so I can haul all the brush away. I'll also split the wood (with an axe and a maul) for my fire pit, but I don't need that much. I have a friend (another old-timer like me) who heats his house with wood, and he'll bring his truck over and we'll split the wood so we can fit it in his truck, or we'll just load the big pieces in his truck so he can take it to his house and split it. It's a lot of work, but I'll just take my time, and I've learned that slow and steady work will eventually get the job done. And it saves me a lot of money.

A young couple that just moved in across the street. I know their house has a nice wood fireplace, so I wanted to be neighborly and I offered them some of the wood. My wife said I was wasting my time. She said "They're 20-something. They're not going to want to do that kind of work." I replied to her "I've already done the hard part. All they have to do is use my wheelbarrow and carry it across the street. What's so hard about that?" She was convinced they wouldn't want it. Well, I offered the wood to them two months ago, when I had a lot of wood all over my front lawn, in plain sight of their house. Meanwhile, me and my old-timer friend took our time, and have finished splitting and hauling all the wood away. My wife was right - they never came over for the wood.

SHMIV wrote:

Also, I am just not a "team player". I always hated when places I worked would make reference to teams, and team players and whatnot. ...................................

I note that, when I was in school, much emphasis was placed on teams, and teaming up, and teamwork. Since then, I see the same emphasis practically everywhere I go. It's almost as if the modern world has forgotten about the concept of independence. Not every project requires a multitude of people.

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In undergraduate school, they used to assign us to "teams" to do projects and assignments. I suppose it was to prepare us for the corporate "team" mentality you referred to. I HATED IT. People like me that were trying to keep up our grades to get in graduate school wound up doing most of the work and frequently re-doing stuff that one of the hippies, druggies, or people who were content with a "gentleman's C" had done a half-assed job of. A "team" in a business environment is tolerable if it has a hard-assed boss with authority to keep the train on the tracks, but usually it's an excuse for bullsh!tters to delay any work with discussions and a train wreck looking for a place to happen.

But you reminded me of an anecdote about the "team" ethic I'd long forgotten:

When I was in high school, our football team had just passed the point where a winning season was impossible. The coach made one of those corny speeches about keeping a stiff upper lip and ended with one of those profoundly trite aphorisms that only a small-time high school football coach would be unashamed of. It went something like this:

Coach: "REMEMBER, THERE IS NO "I" IN TEAM."

Smart-ass me: "NO, BUT THERE IS AN "I" IN WIN."

Coach" THAT'LL BE 25 LAPS, SMART-ASS."

See? Even the WORD "team" gets me in trouble.

My two daughters were not allowed to take their driver's license tests until they could, by themselves, change the oil, top off all the other fluids, replace a bad wiper blade, and change a wheel with a flat tire of any vehicle we owned at the time.
Tire changing included: finding the tools, getting the spare (it DOES have air in it doesn't it?) out, jacking up the car (after loosening the lug nuts), doing the job, and returning all items to their proper places.

Also both learned to drive a manual transmission vehicle, FIRST.

Both were taught to shoot both pistols and rifles. (I'm not a shotgun person.)

Oldest daughter thinks nothing of replacing a radiator in one of her Jeeps.
Youngest daughter's first vehicle was a purple pickup. (She co-owned a horse at the time.)

My sister, when reminded that "there is no I in TEAM", responds by retorting, "Yeah, but there is a ME."

She would be the oldest of my sisters. She has been known to tackle a few car repairs, herself. Very independent, she is. My baby sister, she took auto shop. Both of those girls, though, are very good at shamelessly getting young men to tackle great tasks for them, for little more than a wink, smile, and glass of beer.

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(shakes head) Thank god, we're not "them".

Just saying. I went camping this weekend. Love cold weather camping. That said, I have "tricks, and gear". So when I told someone "I went camping", they had a look on their face like I pull the heads off yorkies, and punt them over the Queens' hedges.

If you have the proper mindset, and know-how... Nothing is impossible. Difficult, pain in the keister, LOTTA work? But not impossible.

Reverenddel wrote:they had a look on their face like I pull the heads off yorkies, and punt them over the Queens' hedges.

The visual is a killer, Rev!

I had to find a proper termage, because all my other anecdotes are not work safe.