"This article proves, to me anyway, that the American family is incapable of passing on crucial components to a common sense life. From basic lawncare and maintenance to replacing leaky faucets and hanging drywall, I learned it all on my own with a little help from DIY books and the internet. I honestly believe some people just don't want to get their hands dirty."
I'm 56 and was raised to do everything myself. I was taught a lot by my Dad who was constantly involved in some project at home and he was taught by his Dad. I learned a lot by working in construction for years and trial and error (sometimes BIG errors).
After I finished college and started working in IT I just didn't have as much time as I used to and when I did I was to tired to do anything. I think that's a lot of the problem these days. People are working their butts off to get by and just don't have the time or inclination to learn things and finish projects.
Like you, I work in IT, and it took me a TON of trial and error to get where I am today. I remember specifically going through the DOS directory and deleting everything with a .sys extension, as I believed it could be purged. Found out real quick that doesn't work. Trial and error, to be certain. I've also taken 220 while working on a circuit breaker I "thought" was disconnected from the main. BIG mistake, to be certain.
I understand general malaise about fixing stupid things. Some people can deal with water hammer, because they don't want to open up the walls to look for loose straps or drain their water system at the main to relieve valves. They'll deal with the banging or call a plumber. But things like spackling a wall, installing a new door or a new deadbolt in a door, knowing to keep the thermostat at 78 to conserve energy, connecting flexi-hose to replace a broken copper pipe under the kitchen sink or even figuring out how to find a stud to hang a picture are all so basic and common sense to me that it's mind boggling when someone looks at the components and can't make a one-to-one comparision when in Home Depot.
I've gone to the Home Despot several times with an idea of what I needed and left with parts to fix it easier, better or cheaper because I asked a pro about the best way to do something. Nothing wrong with asking for help to "fill in the blanks" on a subject in which you're marginally intelligent, but to go into something completely blind is ludicrous. You'll irritate the old hats and befuddle the teenagers if you ask how to build a patio deck that's attached to the foundation of your home and have no carpentry or general contracting experience. Then again, we're talking about menial homeowning tasks, nothing that extensive.