Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Upskilling
I admit that I am notoriously impractical when it comes to DIY and household improvements. It may be that I do not have the knack or just that I am incapable of applying myself, but whatever I try never quite works out right.
This article in the Western Mail therefore struck a chord. I can at least wire a plug though I recall that my first attempt at doing so was a bit of a disaster. I had just moved into a hall of residence at University only to find that all the electricity sockets took small round three pin plugs. I went out to the shop, bought some and put one onto my stereo. I plugged it in and promptly blew all the fuses on the fifth floor.
The journalist reports that "nearly half of those under 30 would struggle to wallpaper a room, 44% could not bleed a radiator and 35% would not know how to unblock a drain. At the same time, 27% could not sew a hem and 26% do not know how to wire a plug, according to Direct Line Home Response 24 who commissioned a YouGov poll of 2,294 people in March. A fifth of young people said they had panicked when confronted with a household emergency, with many having to resort to calling out a professional."
Direct Line has dubbed this group of people, the flat-pack generation - because their domestic skills end at being able to assemble flat pack furniture. I find this assertion to be astonishing. Who is it that says that assembling flat-pack furniture is straightforward? It is one of the most difficult and demanding DIY jobs around, and I have a number of wobbly bookcases and dodgy chest-of-drawers as testament to this. I truly am a lost cause when it comes to DIY.
This article in the Western Mail therefore struck a chord. I can at least wire a plug though I recall that my first attempt at doing so was a bit of a disaster. I had just moved into a hall of residence at University only to find that all the electricity sockets took small round three pin plugs. I went out to the shop, bought some and put one onto my stereo. I plugged it in and promptly blew all the fuses on the fifth floor.
The journalist reports that "nearly half of those under 30 would struggle to wallpaper a room, 44% could not bleed a radiator and 35% would not know how to unblock a drain. At the same time, 27% could not sew a hem and 26% do not know how to wire a plug, according to Direct Line Home Response 24 who commissioned a YouGov poll of 2,294 people in March. A fifth of young people said they had panicked when confronted with a household emergency, with many having to resort to calling out a professional."
Direct Line has dubbed this group of people, the flat-pack generation - because their domestic skills end at being able to assemble flat pack furniture. I find this assertion to be astonishing. Who is it that says that assembling flat-pack furniture is straightforward? It is one of the most difficult and demanding DIY jobs around, and I have a number of wobbly bookcases and dodgy chest-of-drawers as testament to this. I truly am a lost cause when it comes to DIY.
Comments:
<< Home
Takes me back to getting the results of my GCSE Physics mock exam... It came back with good marks on every page except one. On the page featuring a well-known diagram, my Physics teacher had simply written across my inept guesses, "Never try to wire a plug, or you will DIE."
Mindful of this, I rang my parents on buying my first plugged apparatus at uni. They weren't in, but I was safely talked through it by my little sister, so there's hope for a younger generation!
Mindful of this, I rang my parents on buying my first plugged apparatus at uni. They weren't in, but I was safely talked through it by my little sister, so there's hope for a younger generation!
I can wire a plug, but I can't wallpaper. I'm not sure why anyone my age thirty years ago would have been any better at wallpapering... As for jobs like bleeding a radiator - I don't know right now, but should I ever need to do it, the internet will no doubt give me precise instructions.
Post a Comment
<< Home
