Originally Posted by
jon c.
. A lot of basic mechanical repairs are so simple that literally anyone can do them.
I agree with most of your post except this part. And the part about you having a limited ability. The things you described being able to do are above the scope of many people. Far above.
I've done thousands of club rides with hundreds of people. Some struggle with the simplest thing, even after fighting it for years. Some people can't work with tools.
I worked with a kid, maybe 22 or 23. Came to the dealer as a trainee and had amassed $$$ in debt to a private school. Nice guy, everyone liked him but he could not perform any mechanical tasks. We had a recall on the Volt for rear hatch struts. Pop off a couple clips and snap the new struts on. Paid .2, or 12 minutes. He couldn't do it, even after some of us showed him how and even did some for him just so he could show he had done some work. After a few weeks they had to let him go.
Putting in a faucet washer or a ceiling fan would have been out of the question.
I worked as an automotive instructor at a ROP. One of my classes was special education high school students. Some of these guys were as good with cars as many dealership technicians I have seen. Give them a complicated water pump and they could finish quickly with no leaks, no parts left over, and the car was ready to go.
Others couldn't even figure out which way to turn a wrench. Extreme example? Yes, but my point stands.