quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
You wouldn't believe how many service calls I run to reset breakers or GFIs, change batteries, and change light bulbs. Ironically they get mad at me when I walk in spend two minutes there and give them a bill for $130. "Wait all you did was press a button or change a bulb?" I just want so badly to tell them, yep, you're right, this is stupid tax you just paid, but I bite my tongue and remember to myself that it's paying my mortgage.

Millennials have no clue how mechanical things work. I remember being a kid and many of my friends who didn't even have a driver's license could tear down and rebuild a motorcycle, gocart, or car engine.

You'd be amazed at how many calls I get for outlets not working only to find it's a switched outlet. Walk in flip switch on, present bill, move on to next incapable individual. I love these calls, I get paid hourly in half hour chunks, so if I spend five minutes "resolving" their problem I get paid for half hour.

Given the current generation, I'm really starting to think I should have gotten an electrician's license. I would imagine adding a box and receptacle to an existing circuit would probably look like rocket science to these nitwits.

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Originally posted by parabellum:
I find this difficult to believe.

Myself and another gentleman run a program at church where we do church subsidized basic electrical, plumbing, carpentry, painting, repairs, etc jobs for seniors who attend the church and live on fixed income. Last year we started adding high school and college age kids to the process to expand the program and hopefully impart some useful skills to the kids. Given what we saw of the aptitude and capabilities of the kids who participated in the program (which were few), I believe the results of this survey.

Back in'73 I purchased a new VW Super Beetle, fun car...but more fun to see if the the wet behind the ears station jockey knew anything. I would ask them to open the hood and check my coolant level. They usually came back with shocked looks to inform me I was missing a radiator etc. One poor kid opened the front lid to discover no engine, telling me I had been cheated! No joke, I spewed Hires root beer out my nose and all over this kid. Me thinks there has always been a generation that didn't know diddly about many every day things.

Light bulb? No problem.

That freaky hairy legged spider in the sink?

Well nuke ‘em from space.

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
They can change a light bulb. They can't muster the motivation.

Living in the dark as a way of life yet woke, such a paradox. Comfortably numb makes it work.

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Back in'73 I purchased a new VW Super Beetle, fun car...

I had a '73 VW Super Beetle when I was in college. It sure was a fun car... but when I bought it I didn't know diddly about rear-engine or air-cooled either.

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Originally posted by slosig:

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It's not just Millenials... I have a buddy who is an electrician. He has several repeat clients who pay him regularly to come out and do basic homeowner tasks like change burned out light bulbs and swap their HVAC filters.

These are all older, well-off folks, who apparently have more money than sense.

I guess it depends on the people. There is absolutely no flaming way even though he is only 70 that my FIL should ever be on a ladder. He is questionable walking on flat ground. Now he doesn’t pay anybody, he just calls one of his kids or in-laws, but I can see how someone with mobility issues and the bucks might hire someone to help instead of calling their kids. I’m sure some folks are just lazy or have more money than sense, but some folks have realistic limitations.

Someone with physical limitations needing assistance is a whole 'nother thing, and totally reasonable.

These are fully capable 40/50-somethings who just can't be bothered to do it themselves, and who have enough money that throwing a Benjamin at an electrician to change a light bulb for them is no big deal.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Someone with physical limitations needing assistance is a whole 'nother thing, and totally reasonable.

These are fully capable 40/50-somethings who just can't be bothered to do it themselves, and who have enough money that throwing a Benjamin at an electrician to change a light bulb for them is no big deal.

You’re right, that’s Insane. But hey, 40/50-something isn’t older, that’s the prime of life!

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Originally posted by TRshootem:

One poor kid opened the front lid to discover no engine, telling me I had been cheated!

That's OK, there's a spare engine in the trunk.

I used to love pulling my VW into full service and watching them try to figure out where the gas cap was.

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Originally posted by mark60:
I used to love pulling my VW into full service and watching them try to figure out where the gas cap was.

Try pulling into a gas station with a friend in his VW 'Thing'. Everyone used to comment on how cool it was to use a Michelob tap as a hood ornament on that 'thing' without realizing it was actually functional (off a pony keg in the trunk). Lots of fun days at the beach with that car.

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

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Originally posted by slosig:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It's not just Millenials... I have a buddy who is an electrician. He has several repeat clients who pay him regularly to come out and do basic homeowner tasks like change burned out light bulbs and swap their HVAC filters.

These are all older, well-off folks, who apparently have more money than sense.

I guess it depends on the people. There is absolutely no flaming way even though he is only 70 that my FIL should ever be on a ladder. He is questionable walking on flat ground. Now he doesn’t pay anybody, he just calls one of his kids or in-laws, but I can see how someone with mobility issues and the bucks might hire someone to help instead of calling their kids. I’m sure some folks are just lazy or have more money than sense, but some folks have realistic limitations.

Someone with physical limitations needing assistance is a whole 'nother thing, and totally reasonable.

These are fully capable 40/50-somethings who just can't be bothered to do it themselves, and who have enough money that throwing a Benjamin at an electrician to change a light bulb for them is no big deal.

I have very wealthy customers that I do some of these things for. They know how to do it. BUT, they're so busy with their business(es) and making REAL money and to them $100 is about equivalent to the cost of a stick of gum to me or you. That, they'd rather just enjoy their time off having fun, spending time with family, or doing something they enjoy doing than wasting it on things like changing light bulbs and air conditioning filters.


But I agree, the millennials are complete idiots...….most of them don't know how to change a lightbulb and can't afford to pay someone to change it for them...…. but they're in the dark in many areas of life!

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Someone with physical limitations needing assistance is a whole 'nother thing, and totally reasonable.

I'm just a wee bit older than a Millennial. I can change a light bulb. As a matter of fact, last week I changed a complete 48" fluorescent fixture in the kitchen. Ballast was bad, a tombstone broke when I took the T-12 tube out, I found that a complete fixture was cheaper at the hardware store, than the parts needed to repair the existing fixture that was original with the house, built in 1986.

Physical limitations? Meh. As a result of my bout of Guillain Barré Syndrome, my balance is really bad. I use a cane for balance assist, more than for support. Reaching up to work overhead was a real "iffy" proposition. My wife was great back-up. She stood behind me and assisted me maintaining balance. If I had to do it alone, I would probably pay somebody. Not because I don't know how to do it, but because it would not be safe for me.

I have to laugh, thinking about the millennial who would call an electrician to change the fluorescent tube, never mind replacing the whole fixture.

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Originally posted by Ripley:

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
They can change a light bulb. They can't muster the motivation.

Living in the dark as a way of life yet woke, such a paradox. Comfortably numb makes it work.

Failing that, they become offended. Because whoever designed or built what's now not up-to-par could have designed it easier to understand or it should have been constructed to not fail.

And if handed a life that excluded all that offended them, they would be offended because they have nothing to be offended about. [sigh]

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Originally posted by slosig:
You’re right, that’s Insane. But hey, 40/50-something isn’t older, that’s the prime of life!

"Older" as in older than Millenials.

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Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

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These are all older, well-off folks, who apparently have more money than sense.

Maybe they are lonely and some want to meet nice young men who work with their hands. LOL

I have a handyman who comes a couple of times a week to do things around my house. I am 81 years old and not able to handle ladders, stepstools, etc. and there are tasks I am not able to perform myself easily--he takes care of those, and changing light bulbs over the sink and in ceiling fixtures are things he regularly does for me. I am able and more than willing to pay him to provide those services for me.

flashguy

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I have a handyman who comes a couple of times a week to do things around my house. ...

Not being physically able is not the same as not even knowing how.

Funny stuff. I have two "can" lights at the peak of our living room. I've no way to measure it, but when they were building it the cans on the ceiling were 3 8' plywood sheets up on the fireplace. So I'm guessing 24', give or take.

One of my questions was how in the hell am I going to change one of them if they burn out. The answer was really simple. I'm not! And I've got better sense than to climb a ladder and try. With age comes wisdom or common sense. Planning for such eventualities is multi-part. First, I bought LED bulbs with long life span. Then I use them pretty infrequently. Part 3 of the plan is to hire some fool to do it. Laugh at me if you please, I don't care. And I'd rather pay someone than have my offspring hurt.

The issue many are exhibiting is conflating the actions of a subset of a population, and ascribing it to the whole, and ignoring the other subsets entirely.

The average age of SpaceX engineers is 29 years old. The military has been almost entirely millennial since 9/11, and successfully fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Millenials are everywhere around us, and are the backbone of the economy at the moment, as older groups, including baby boomers (good riddance!) retire.

Oh, and Millenials range in age from 38 to around 20, depending on the metric used. If you are complaining about high schoolers or college students, most aren’t millennials anymore.

In that video, it sounds more like a case of the tenants believing the light bulb replacement fell under the responsibility of the landlord. At least the way she was relating her conversations make it seem that way.

In my personal experience, I've come to find that Millennials aren't taught many of the basic repair/maintenance skills that I was taught. People have even gone so far as to ask me pointed questions regarding why I carry a Leatherman and flashlight. On more than one occasion, when I've replied that I use them on an almost daily basis for work, my answer was surprising to the questioner.

Millennials seem to be too used to having other people do the work for them but are also too complacent about keeping up on those necessities.