“Of course, that begs the question whether or not he would have known how to use the tools to change his tire. “
My dad insisted that each of us kids change a tire for the spare before we took the car out the first time. One sister hated it. The rest of us loved it.
My dad made me change a tire when I was 17, before my mother and I made a girls’road trip across the desert. I was swearing to myself, as it was a hot day. When I couldn’t tighten the bolts enough, I called a friend who had taken shop. She had been the only girl in auto shop. I asked her how she tightened the bolts. She said, “stand on the wrench if you have to.” Sure enough, it worked.
Afterwards, my dad said he didn’t really expect me to change a tire on the road, but he wanted me to know how to do it, because sometimes guys who come along offering to help are kinda stupid and will do it wrong if you don’t watch it.
He also taught me how to use jumper cables, which came in handy to help other people in addition to myself.
We had to learn that in driver’s ed. Also how to put on tire chains. I don’t think kids get driver’s ed anywhere, now. (We’ve noticed in our area how knowledge and skill at driving have really fallen down. People don’t use their turn signals, leave no space at intersections, and are constantly fooling with their phones...)
Same here. Our kids had to be able to change a tire and do an oil change before they could get their licenses. Our eldest (a daughter) even helped me re-torque the loose bolts on the torque converter spider - I'd just had an appendectomy and could not pull over 10lbs.