I have tried to learn as many skills as I possibly can, all my life. You never can tell when you might have someone show up on your doorstep with a raw duck in a plastic bag and say, "I don't know how to cook this - please cook it for me." (My mother in law did this once. She carried the raw duck across the Bronx on the bus.) You might need to know how to sew a button back onto your coat. Or how to change a flat tire. I agree with Robert Heinlein's "A competent human ought to be able to do the following things:" It includes delivering a baby, cooking a tasty meal, and many other things. I tried to learn all of them, but it also includes shoot at a target and hit it, and I'm a terrible shot because I've been nearsighted all my life.
I taught myself various forms of first aid (there have been case where a toddler delivered their own baby sibling when Mom passed out, with some coaching from the 911 operator on the phone. The kid had been taught to dial 911 in any kind of emergency.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Hmm ...
Date: 2024-12-27 05:54 pm (UTC)You might need to know how to sew a button back onto your coat. Or how to change a flat tire. I agree with Robert Heinlein's "A competent human ought to be able to do the following things:" It includes delivering a baby, cooking a tasty meal, and many other things. I tried to learn all of them, but it also includes shoot at a target and hit it, and I'm a terrible shot because I've been nearsighted all my life.
I taught myself various forms of first aid (there have been case where a toddler delivered their own baby sibling when Mom passed out, with some coaching from the 911 operator on the phone. The kid had been taught to dial 911 in any kind of emergency.