Who's Your Handy-woman?

in #hive-1948482 years ago

I had a lot of things on my mind in the past hour so it took me a while to school my thoughts into a semblance of calm to write this. And it’s nice to have thought-provoking topics like this on #kiss that makes us reflect on our lives.

I asked my Mom when I was young why I never saw any repairers at home. No technicians or mechanics to fix one thing or the other. She laughed and said that if they even came to the house, my Dad would end up teaching them the job so there wasn’t a need. I didn’t understand but later I saw it.

There wasn’t a need for them because Dad did everything. He fixed the cars himself, and the generator. He fixed the leaking pipes and made little stools from wood to use around the house. He mended our shoes and fixed the phone chargers when they got bad. I was always in awe. And asked him how and why he was so good at everything and he’d say it was to save millions.



Source


But it didn’t end there, Dad would tell us plainly that he’s lucky to have five girls but that means we would all do what was considered “male jobs.” He wasn’t calling men outside to help him lift the heavy solar batteries because his girls were just as capable. And he didn’t want us to go around looking for guys that would check what was wrong if the car stopped us by the way and he wasn’t around, we should try solving it first.

So, pretty early, we learnt things from fixing the gen plugs and fixing the car batteries and ‘priming’ it so it would run smoothly. We learnt to do everything that was supposed to be beyond us and till now, it’s helped me a lot.

One of my fond memories was once when we were out with my Mom to get groceries for the house. And the car stopped us on the road there. Mom promptly opened the bonnet of the car and told my sister and I to go see what was wrong, while she stayed in the car.

And so my sister was checking the batteries and told me to get the spanner from the toolbox in the boot of the car. And then a man walked up to us in alarm and asked, “Do you know what you’re doing at all?” My sister and I smiled a little because we knew it was another opportunity to show oblivious, assuming, opinionated men what they didn’t know.

And so, we just silently worked. Another man stopped, too and told us that we shouldn’t spoil the car. We were still silent trying to fix the problem. We called out to our Mom to try starting the car and it grunted a bit but didn’t start. The men laughed and one even wanted to shift us but the warning glare I shot him with my spanner up in the air was enough to keep him still.

We found out that one of the battery heads wasn’t fixed properly and so we removed the wires and fixed it back again and called out to my Mom to start and the car roared to life. We promptly closed the bonnet not failing to give the men a very condescending, superior look as they gaped at us. We got in to meet a laughing Mom who said we were way too dramatic, but said that it was sure to teach them a lesson.

My whole point to this is to drive the message of “less is more.” That statement in my opinion simply means using the resources available to us to avoid ceaseless expenditures. Less is more means that we have used the skills we have acquired to solve problems that could have made us susceptible to exploitation from professionals that deem us ignorant.

It means that we have a certain level of independence knowing that we can do things for ourselves and that if there’s an emergency, we wouldn’t be at a loss. To be honest, there are times when our needs are beyond us. Times when our skills aren’t enough and we have to take the issue to professionals. Being a specialist at one thing is good but it’s better to know a little about a lot of things. We don’t have to be an A. C is just fine.

So that the generator repairer doesn’t say that the engine has knocked when it’s clearly just the fuel pump. Hence, a minimalist lifestyle is achieved. Saves cost. Less becomes more.

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Fantastic! I love it when people are able to show skill and ability across traditional gender-divided roles. A delightful story, Tess. I bet you and your mom and sisters were able to have a good laugh at that. To have been a fly on the wall... erm... bonnet when you finished up and the car roared to life and to have seen the expression on the guys' faces hahaha !LOLZ !LUV !ALIVE

I know, right. She was so pleased. Couldn't stop talking about it for days. It made us happy too. Thanks for your warming comment Sam.🤗💞

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So you can change spark plugs and oil in gen
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I just knew you'll talk this thing. Shift.😂

Handy woman...
So you're pretty good with your hands, no?🌝

You go around looking for trouble 😂😂😂. Instead of looking at the bright side, you dey always dim your eyes to talk another thing. 😂😂😂

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Me looking for trouble 😂😂😂

I look at all sides love 🤠, I comment on the side that's more interesting 😂😂

😂😂😂😂😂.
Weldone. Sha no come my side. I'm tired of you

That hurts b🥺😔

Awww but no sorry for ya😂

I imagined the scene of you and your sister using spanners to work on the car along the road. Wow! That's superb.

Knowing these basic things helps a lot. If you guys had no idea, 5k or more would have left your mommy's purse that day

True. Skills like that are necessary. Thanks for stopping by Kinglsleyy. I'm glad you made it here.🤗

💪💪
I decided to be serious with engagement 🤗

Proud of you dear.🤗

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This is funny yet so brilliant... Well done. People always have the idea that only men can do certain things. Cheers to you.

Thank you. I'm glad you made it here and that you liked it.🤗

Knowing a little about a lot is a fundamental aspect of independency because few people can fool a person if they understand the basics of many things. Minimalism is also cultivated like you pointed out. You will be able to cut out all unnecessary doing and just focus on the essentials. Less is indeed more. Great post :)

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I appreciate you stopping by.

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Sometimes one can not do the work of a professional.
Nice write-up

Thanks for stopping by.

You are welcome

I concur 100%! :D For me, it was my mom -- she has much the same attitude, which I'm glad for, since it led me to acquiring and developing a lot more skills than I might've otherwise had. I don't think it's purely an economical thing, though. Not always. The way I see it now is, why should I pay someone else when I can probably do it? It's not that I don't wanna pay them, just that the "not being able to" label bugs me tremendously.

I don't get women who leave it to the men, or who sort of embrace this imaginary helplessness - "Oh, I could never do that". Well, that doesn't seem like a good attitude to start with, does it?

<3

Sort of like a damsel in distress mentality right? Beats me for real. But a lot of people enjoy it, so I guess that's up to them.

Your mom sounds wonderful. Honestly, it's nice to learn some of these things. Thanks for your warming comment friend.🤗

Sure, there's some perverse satisfaction in being a victim, I just don't think it holds a candle to the satisfaction of knowing you're capable, and that you got this, you know? :)

That's just about right. The damsel ok distress act is really outdated if you ask me. But to each her own, I guess. Can't make everyone reason the way you do.

Less is indeed more. Imagine being fooled by a repairer on the actual problem of your device simply because you have no knowledge about it, and thereby extracting money 💰 from you all in the name of repair.

Your dad laid a good foundation for you and your sisters which you guys will definitely be grateful for.

Not failing to give the men a very condescending, superior look as they gaped at us.

Hahaha 😂 😂 I love that feeling of being triumphant when all around you already assumed you will never be able to do it.

I came here through #dreemport

Imagine being fooled by a repairer on the actual problem of your device simply because you have no knowledge about it...

It's a very sad and dishonest experience but unfortunately, it happens more times than we expect.

I enjoyed reading how heartwarming your comment was. Sorry for the late reply and thank you so for much for stopping by.🌺

It was nice of your dad to teach you and your sisters so many useful skills. Mine didn't teach us those things. I have one sister who is mechanically minded, and she fixes a lot of things herself. I don't do well with tools, especially sharp things. I seem to lack the proper hand/eye coordination for many tasks. My husband has been able to take care of many fix-it projects over the years, but now his health is failing and he can't do a lot of things he used to be able to do. So I have to hire people to do things he used to do. It bothers him to see other people doing things he "ought" to be doing, but he simply isn't capable of it any more.

Yeah it was nice that he could teach us. And I'm sure you make up for it with other wonderful things.
I'm so sorry about your husband and I know it must hurt him that you've got to spend all that money. Life hits us where it would hurt the most, doesn't it? Stay strong dear. My best regards to him.🤗

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