Now hiring: tinkerers and putterers

My Grandpa used to have a tiny workshop outside the mobile home he lived in with my Nana.  I remember seeing rows of baby food jars filled with all sorts of nails, screws, and other little parts and tools that were essential to his handmade projects.  Every once in a while he’d say, “I’m going outside to putter for a while,” and that’s what he would do.  Putter.  That word is still in the dictionary but hardly a part of our everyday vocabulary any more.

image by Schilling 2

This week a fascinating poll, sponsored by Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, The Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Intl., was released  that shows just how far Americans have come from the days when Dad could fix or build anything.  Of the 1,000 adults polled, 58% said they had never built or made a toy.  60% say they avoid handling household repairs themselves, and astonishingly, 73% of the teens polled said they have no interest in blue collar jobs.  In other words, these teens are happy to be in the same positions as the sons of one of my good friends.

This friend is in dire financial straits.  She’s a single mom of  two grown sons who live at home.  Both have jobs.  One works at a movie theater and the other at Walgreen’s.  Honestly, 12  year-olds can stock shelves and fill popcorn buckets.  What these two young men need to learn are trades.  They need to learn to tinker around with things, build things, and learn how to make broken things work. They need to learn to putter.

From many indications, our nation’s economy is headed downward, still.  The same skills and knowledge that, apparently, teens and many adults shun will become more and more valuable.  Hey, if your washing machine isn’t working and you can’t afford a new one, what are you going to do?  Call a (blue collar) appliance repairman!  A (blue collar) plumber will come to your rescue when your indoor plumbing is backed up for unknown reasons.  In the economy of the future, it may very well be the blue collar families who prosper most.

Most older teens and young adults earn money in order to buy the latest fads, pay for dates, expensive toys and perhaps their car payments.  Unless that income is absolutely necessary,  it may pay off in the long run to work for a time as an unpaid apprentice learning electrical wiring, car repair, carpentry, or any number of blue collar skills. 

An example of how well this can work out is a former employee of ours’, Josh.  My husband hired Josh right out of high school and put him to work as a $9 an hour helper in an electrical contracting business.  Over a period of five years, he took classes in residential wiring and became quite a good electrician.  When the construction business slowed and Josh was laid off, he quickly got a job in the electrical department of Home Depot and recently was promoted.  In addition to his hours there, he picks up odd electrical jobs and occasionally works for his former employer.  Financially, he’s doing quite well while most of his buddies from high school have been unemployed for months. 

It turns out that blue collar professions may be the best way to earn an income as our economy goes from bad to worse.  During boom years, these professions do quite well also.  Encourage your kids from an early age to build things, invent things, tinker and putter.  Give gifts of bird house kits and kid-sized real tools, and let them learn the joy and pride of building something with their own hands.

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