Tongue in cheek…
Actually, I’d always wondered about that story about mussels being bad if they didn’t open up. Turns out that’s probably not true: http://www.culinarylore.com/food-history:throw-away-unopened-mussels
Let’s add something to the list:
Know enough to avoid using idioms you don’t fully understand.
It’s “set foot,” not “step foot.”
@beerme - Some great points. Wish I had taught my S about driving in flash flood conditions. When S was 16 he tried to drive through a flooded street on his way home from soccer practice. His car stalled and he kept trying to restart it. Flooded the engine and totaled the car. Learned that lesson the hard way.
Re Step foot v. Set foot: this has come up on this forum before. The OED has citations for “step foot” used as an idiom in the same way as “set foot” going back centuries.
Ditto @GoatGirl19 learning how to be respectful as a guest is such a good one! Some things are counterintuitive, imo. Some might think it would be nice not to touch the kitchen as a guest for fear of messing things up, while others might consider making dinner for your host a nice gesture (depends on the person here). Not showering or doing other noisy things super late/early. I know personally I would’ve assumed that the proper thing to do when leaving is to make the bed I slept in, had my mom not told me it’s usually to strip the sheets so they can be washed.
Learn to fill out a rental application. Know what income to fill out, it’s gross income and not net income.
There are many things on a car that require either a professional mechanic or specialized tools or both to fix.
Better to consider the basics for anyone who drives a car:
- Refuel the car.
- Calculate fuel consumption.
- Check and adjust tire air pressure.
- Replace the wheel with a flat tire with the spare wheel and tire.
- Safely jump start the car.
- Check the oil and other fluids. Read the owner's manual to find out the correct fluids.
- Check the bulbs.
- Know what all of the indicator lights in the dash mean.
- Read the owner's manual for all of the useful information, including the maintenance checklist.
That is why the car should be on jackstands or ramps, not just a jack.
On some cars, a suction device like that commonly used to change the oil in motorboat engines can be used to remove the old oil without having to go under the car to drain it. Of course, that only avoids going under the car if the oil filter is accessible from the top.
Actually, an OBD-II code reader is not that expensive, and there may be internet forums where a given code for your year/make/model of car has been discussed (what the problem likely is, how to fix it). Of course, it is not necessarily true that the fix is an easy or inexpensive one in all cases.
The lug wrench is usually about a foot long, and the nuts or bolts are supposed to be tightened to 70-100 foot-pounds of torque, so 70-100 pounds of force on the end of the lug wrench should loosen them. Unfortunately, they may be overtightened… but standing on the end of the lug wrench can often break them loose if you are unable to loosen them by deadlifting. Of course, the car should not be jacked up until you have loosened the nuts or bolts.
Math mom, it doesn’t work if you car breakdown inside a parking structure, nobody can see you. I play damsel in distress but not in a parking structure because nobody sees me.
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know personally I would’ve assumed that the proper thing to do when leaving is to make the bed I slept in, had my mom not told me it’s usually to strip the sheets so they can be washed.
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Yes…and if you’ve used their washer before, go ahead and wash them.
@ucbalumnus, your list matches what I can do and I think my kid who drives can do. My wife also. More than that, I don’t really aspire to.
On the list of the many things on people’s lists here that seem like nice skills to have, I taught my kids what to buy for champagne and a bit on how to choose wines. We have taken them to fine restaurants so that they are not uncomfortable when they are in that setting.
More importantly, I taught them about how to have a life where what one does for work makes them intrinsically happy, the likelihood that they won’t know when they graduate from college precisely what that area is, and the critical importance of extremely hard work in being successful. I hope we showed them how to have a happy married and family life, though I can’t say I’m an expert here.
I don’t really get why so many people think it is impossible to work on modern cars. My husband does everything on ours with just a few exceptions. Just this year he changed the brakes, replaced a suspension part that was needed to pass state inspection and replaced the water pump on my SUV when it failed. You can do a lot on your own with the Chiltons manual and Youtube. He has saved us some serious money over the years.
For my part, I know enough about cars to know when the engine started overheating very quickly that the water pump had likely failed and my SUV needed to be shut off and not driven anymore until it was fixed to avoid permanent damage to the engine. I’ve also changed a tire before.
All that said, neither my college daughter nor my 17 year old son have any interest in knowing how the cars work beyond what average people know. My husband has tried to get my son to take an interest but it doesn’t work. They both know how to drive through mildly flooded streets though. We live in an old city and several areas will flood if it rains hard.
One thing my kids were told before they turned 16 was how to interact with the police especially in regard to a traffic stop. They were told to be respectful but to know their rights and assert them.
I wouldn’t mind if the guest offered to wash them, but I would be annoyed if the guest just went ahead and did it. That seems like a very pushy thing to do in another person’s house.
What are some good hotlines to make sure a college freshman has programmed into her cell phone? RAINN, Poison Control, Suicide Prevention, The Trevor Project…are there others? Or better alternatives than the ones I listed?
When one has a car of their own (or takes a car to college): don’t keep driving a car that has engine overheat or engine light on. Make sure that you have enough oil and other fluids in the vehicle (I know a very smart nursing student that drove her car that evidently was leaking oil - she didn’t know to check her oil level and almost ruined or did ruin the engine). Be mindful of oil change and tire rotation, and regular maintenance schedule of vehicle.
How to command a room to make an announcement or presentation to a group.
Deliver a heartfelt eulogy.
Offer sincere condolences.
Make a witty toast.