Names some skills everyone might ought to learn

[Sequoia]

Swimming

Bicycling

Change oil & tire on a car

Sewing on a button

[haele]

1. Science of cooking -

How to use your sense of smell to select, measure, mix, and cook ingredients.
How to use your heats - bake, broil, roast, blanche stew, boil, simmer, fry, saute or grill/toast.
How to use your cools - "drying/dehydrating", chill, crisp, set, freeze.
How to make any type of broth and thicken sauces.
How to use herbs, spices, and seasoning.
How yeast works and how to make different types of dough.
How to parbroil and brown meat and veggies for cooking.
How to properly preserve or dry meats, herbs, and veggies for eating later.
How to recognise, use - and cobble together, if need be - basic cooking utensils.

Haele

[Skittles]

37. in my 52 years I've never done any of that

never needed to :D

[fizzgig]

2. +1 on the oil and tire

i can't do a whole lot on my car, but my dad made damn sure i could change my oil and a tire.

i think everyone needs to know basic first aid, too.

[flvegan]

3. Dim Mak

[redqueen]

6. +1

I was gonna say Kung Fu... but that'll work.

[vadawg]

4. how to hunt, trap , fish. how to fight hand to hand to protect your game,

the use of small back garden nuclear weapons to protect your veggie garden through MAD.

[hobbit709]

21. NNS Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2he2eF2L_SE

[sniffa]

5. Land surveying

[MajorChode]

19. I actually know that one

I'm not sure how it has increased my value as a human being, though.

[sniffa]

30. It will increase your self worth

as well as your knowledge of peoples' property lines which will then increase your monetary worth more so when you tell a landowner that someone erected a fence on your property.

[MajorChode]

31. I've got a brick wall that goes around my property

I think if someone puts up a fence inside, I'm going to know about it.

[XemaSab]

7. Here are mine:

Basic use of a sewing machine.

Basic orienteering and wilderness survival (such as how to determine north, which way to walk to find a road, poisonous plants, basic shelter techniques, and so forth).

How to use an apostrophe.

Basic carpentry and tool use.

[Kali]

8. growing/raising/preparing food

even a single tomato plant gives an appreciation for the process. Try it.

[KitchenWitch]

9. cooking

sewing an actual garment from pattern to finished product

knitting or crocheting

[Mike 03]

10. Touch Typing. At least it was vital for me. NT

[NJmaverick]

11. CPR would be number one on my list

[GCP]

55. +1

No brainer

[HopeHoops]

12. Making a cheese sandwich for a breastfeeding Narwhal at Olive Garden

Well SOMEBODY had to say it!

[Inchworm]

13. Communication

it's all easy from there.

:hi:

[MrScorpio]

14. Cooking, cleaning and avoiding fallen space debris

[Lavender Brown]

15. Organization skills and cleaning

Taking care of kids.

[InternalDialogue]

16. The timeless art of seduction

Also taxidermy.

[Debi]

50. Um.....not at the same time...right??

:scared:

[InternalDialogue]

56. Of course not.

But a good taxidermist is never lonely at night. All those eyes.

[LiberalEsto]

17. Listening

Really, really listening

[rucky]

18. Jumping from a moving train. n/t

[yardwork]

20. Grammar

(I'm sorry. It was irresistable.)

[LeftyMom]

22. Making seitan from scratch.

Because it's cheap and delicious.

[azmouse]

23. Putting the toilet seat down.

[DarkTirade]

24. Putting... down? What crazyness is that you speak of?

:P

[azmouse]

25. It's a proven scientific fact that the only people who leave the seat up

are freepers... I'm series! :P

[DarkTirade]

26. Huh.

Actually that wouldn't surprise me... :P

[old mark]

42. I solved this problem.

I never put it up.


mark

[yewberry]

27. Excel.

No, not very helpful in case of apocalypse, but incredibly useful in the meantime.

(And then I could get some of my own work done.)

Outside the cubicle, though:

Gardening
Canning
Laundry
Basic plumbing
Navigation skills

[Tangerine LaBamba]

28. Oral sex ........

Everyone would be a lot calmer and happier if people just practiced more....................

[Richard Steele]

29. Gardening. Basic carpentry. Sewing. Cooking. Canning/drying food.

Basic automobile maintenence.
How to properly sharpen a knife.

The list goes on and on.

[backtoblue]

49. gardening and canning should be taught from a very early age

I'd add first aid n/t

[Richard Steele]

67. They WERE taught from an early age, back where I grew up...

And I can't believe I forgot to mention "first aid".
OBVIOUSLY, that's something everyone should learn!

Thanks so much for that one! :thumbsup:

[Forkboy]

32. Massage and cunnilingus/oral sex.

The world would be a far happier place this way.

[LeftyMom]

33. This man speaks truth. Listen to him.

[Withywindle]

34. I second this.

[Withywindle]

35. Distinguishing edible plants/fungus from poisonous ones.

Distinguishing venomous snakes and other animals from harmless ones.

Using old clothing - either by mending and patching, or cutting and reassembling.

Reading public transit maps in any city anywhere in the world.

Basic cooking.

Folk/herbal remedies for simple, common ailments.

Story and joke telling, simple dance and musical instruments, lo-tech games (for non-electronic entertainment)

Horseback riding and carriage driving.

Target shooting.


(These are all things I can do and have done, to some extent, and want to develop further)

Things I don't know how to do but am working on learning:

Another language

Canning and pickling

Brewing

Smoking and salting meat and fish.

[Missy Vixen]

36. How to kiss. Well.

:woohoo:

[enigmatic]

38. Empathy n/t

[Heidi]

39. :thumbsup:

And I'd only add that self-restraint is an important and, too often, unappreciated aspect of empathy. Empathy is as much what we don't do/say as what we _do_ do and say. :)

[enigmatic]

40. too many people see empathy as a weakness

When it's just the opposite; it's a strength not only of character, but of the soul, too. :hug:

[Heidi]

41. Totally agree.

Also: loving kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, equanimity. :hug:

[Sequoia]

43. Morse code....as least for SOS.

You never know when that little mirror might come in handy.

Starting a fire with lenses and sun.

[rucky]

59. ... --- ...

[Sequoia]

63. That doesn't look like mirror flashing to me Mr. Dot Dash !!

[rucky]

64. I think I'd need one of those extended keyboards for that.

[WilliamPitt]

44. Driving a stick shift

[MissMillie]

46. +1

that was the first thing that came to my mind.

[guitar man]

47. right on

:thumbsup:

[Rob H.]

54. Yup. If you can drive a stick shift, you can drive almost anything

It even helped when I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course a few years ago.

[Jean Louise Finch]

69. +1

That's what I was going to say.

[bif]

45. Sign language

[Debi]

48. Making change w/out the help of a cash register or calculator

Useful skill once on the other side of the counter.

[Wapsie B]

51. Basic home repairs

putting in a sink or fixing a leak under the sink can save a bundle.

Installing a door handle/lock
Fixing a window

[petronius]

52. Sitting still for five minutes at a time...

Putting trash in the trash bin (and recycling in the recycling bin)...

Knowing the difference between a life-threatening emergency and a slightly-late newspaper delivery...

Tipping...

[WinkyDink]

53. Grammar?

[Bertha Venation]

57. kinda funny story about changing the oil

My dad had always promised me he'd teach me how. One day I called him and said I needed an oil change (I was still at that age where you call your dad for stuff like that - very young) and would he show me how to do it. He said to come on over.

When I got to his house, he handed me a twenty dollar bill and said, "I don't even change my own oil anymore." :)

[SoxFan]

58. Making that fart sound with your armpit

[Z_I_Peevey]

66. And that whistle that one makes with two fingers in the mouth.

That'd be good, too.

[northzax]

60. twenty things every man should be able to do

1: jump start a car
2: know which way is North
3: make a signature drink
4: tie a bow tie (and then only wear one with your tuxedo)
5: shake hands with people you need something from
6: shake hands with people who need something from you (hint: 5 and 6 should be the exact same)
7: iron a shirt
8: write a thank you letter
9: offer help without being patronizing
10: accept help without feeling patronized.
11: tip
12: bargain
13: sew a button
14: take pride in an honest day's work
15: change a diaper
16: hold a baby
17: cast a fishing line
18: buy flowers
19: be able to have a serious conversation on at least two disparate topics
20: vacuum

I would not pretend to tell a woman the things she should know, and frankly, all the women I know can pretty much do most of those already.

[SKKY]

61. Everyone should learn to play a musical instrument.

[Courtesy Flush]

62. Sign language

Yes, it would help deaf people to get around better, but I have said for years that a failing of human society is that we didn't develop sign language from our earliest days of civilization. There are times when there is too much noise to hear each other, and times when silence is essential. There are times when you're a hundred yards away from a person, and they can't hear you. Sign language should have been part of our lives since Mesopotamia.

One thing that has proven that I'm right about this? Texting is one of the most popular forms of communication today. It fills that gap that we should have filled eons ago.

[Shell Beau]

65. Definitely swimming. I think everyone should know how to swim.

[Cid_B]

68. According to Lazarus Long...

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. "

R.A.H.