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I am a baby boomer, and in high school, we had home economics/bachelor living for males, basic cooking skills, laundry ie: use and care of the machines, basic sewing. I think this is now called family/domestic/consumer science, is it a required course nowdays? I recently read an article about how new college grads had a "finishing" course, Polite table conversation, what silverware to use, how not to fumble with a napkin. It was presented in the spirit of how to survive a dinner with a prospective employer. How sad is that? alr2903
 
Until a few months ago, there were 3 washaterias in this town of about 5000, but one (the oldest) has now closed. It had gotten run down and nasty, and I couldn't imagine taking my clothes in there. The one I've been going to is very well kept, with Dexter FL and Whirlpool TL equipment. The owner and attendants enforce the rules - if someone misbehaves, they're out. The other one is not so great, but hear it's cleaner than the one that closed. The ones around here tend to be busier when it's been dry, as many people in the surrounding area have wells and cisterns, and don't want to use up their water if rain is short.
 
I am a baby boomer, and in high school, we had home economics/bachelor living for males, basic cooking skills, laundry ie: use and care of the machines, basic sewing.

We had similar requirment in junior high school (intermedite school). Except the girls had to take shop and woodworking and the boys had to take cooking and sewing.
 
I support the idea of teaching high schoolers of both sexes the ins and outs of daily living in our mechanized households.

Unfortunately I went to an "academic" high school with no shop classes and no home ec classes. I guess we were supposed to be above all that. I recall an eerie feeling as I went on that I had no idea how things were grown, made, etc. What I knew of getting by in a household I picked up as a kid in the home. What I missed with shop classes etc I've picked up by grilling those less academically restricted and finally decided that I prefer a mechanical job to one shuffling paper and learning new and creative ways to lie. So I fixed that ;-).

I feel a bit sorry for those who think it's a mark of distinction that they don't know how to hang a picture, change a tire, load a washer, etc. In reality their understanding and enjoyment of modern life is incomplete, and it's almost like they are half-formed beings.

My elderly neighbor recently moved into an assisted living facility. I recall talking to his kids: he was a total loss at doing some things his late wife had done. He didn't know how to pay bills, keep a checking account balance, etc. So his daughter would visit regularly to take care of these details for him. How sad is that?
 
It's very sad. Some people split things up into "man" duties, and "women" duties...that's a load of crap. I never will forget when I gave a big party at my house for my family after I moved in...somehow in convo I mentioned that I had spent the day mopping floors, doing dishes, and scrubbin' the toilets--not to mention doing the laundry. My snooty aunt looked at me like I had three heads and asked "...you know how to do all that?!?" Yeah, and I can make a damn good Bundt cake too! lol
 
This stuff isn't hard....

...if you just pay attention. Like my mom always said, "If you can read and follow directions, you can cook!" I paid attention and knew how to do my own laundry well before HS... good thing since I went off to a boarding school at 14 and was on my own. I was also a pretty good hand at cooking long before the Food Network was on 24x7.... good thing there too, since I was a bachelor until I was 32 and probably would have starved or gone broke otherwise! Never had a class in either, just paid attention to what was going on, asked questions and tried to pitch in.

And I never assumed it was someone else's job to take care of such things. I'm not going to let my kids assume that either!
 

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