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> I don’t know if apartment living has changed the brains of Americans but I don’t know many guys who when hearing it’ll be/waiting more than an hour or two, wo

> I don’t know if apartment living has changed the brains of Americans but I don’t know many guys who when hearing it’ll be/waiting more than an hour or two, wouldn’t just go buy a plunger and drain cleaner. Your reply seems to be making a lot of nonapplicable assumptions. #1, I'm not American, so I don't know why you're ruminating about the 'brains of Americans'. #2, I know how to use a plunger and drain cleaner, my comment was referring to issues that a lay person cannot readily fix; hence the need for a repair person and the lack of ready availability of such in small rural towns.

stephenr 5y ago
> I don't know why you're ruminating about the 'brains of Americans' Because Americans often seem to have a fascination with living in shoe-boxes and divesting themselves of any personal responsibility for things like this. Homer Simpsons "can't someone else do it" attitude, effectively. > my comment was referring to issues that a lay person cannot readily fix There aren't that many things that can go wrong in the home, and that you would expect a person to come and repair, that you the occupant, can't also repair. Yes you will possibly need to learn something new. Welcome to life. A blocked toilet is most definitely one of the things you can fix. Calling a plumber for a blocked toilet is like the oft-quoted calling IT support for the unplugged computer.
- SergeAx 5y ago
  > There aren't that many things that can go wrong in the home Until it is something about electricity or, even worse, gas.
  - stephenr 5y ago
    Electricity isn't magic, and while it can be dangerous, so can lots of other things we use/do all the time, and people manage to learn to use/do those things. I don't know what it's like in Italy, but here, it's arguably more dangerous to call an "electrician" because everything is "mai pen rai" (don't worry about it), including things you personally might actually worry about like, you know, having outdoor power sockets in a waterproof box, or sealing the underground conduit, or connecting an earth, or not just twisting wires together and taping them up, or turning off the breaker before connecting things to existing circuits. (Literally all things I've had to fix because "a professional" did it). Besides the wiring from the meter to the breaker boxes (yes boxes, plural, because $reasons), and the wiring to the A/C units, there isn't much in this house where I haven't had to change/fix some aspect of the wiring. Occasionally just to do something different, but almost always that inevitably ends up involving a fix for whatever retarded thing the previous "professional" did.

stephenr 5y ago

> I don't know why you're ruminating about the 'brains of Americans' Because Americans often seem to have a fascination with living in shoe-boxes and divesting themselves of any personal responsibility for things like this. Homer Simpsons "can't someone else do it" attitude, effectively. > my comment was referring to issues that a lay person cannot readily fix There aren't that many things that can go wrong in the home, and that you would expect a person to come and repair, that you the occupant, can't also repair. Yes you will possibly need to learn something new. Welcome to life. A blocked toilet is most definitely one of the things you can fix. Calling a plumber for a blocked toilet is like the oft-quoted calling IT support for the unplugged computer.

SergeAx 5y ago
> There aren't that many things that can go wrong in the home Until it is something about electricity or, even worse, gas.
- stephenr 5y ago
  Electricity isn't magic, and while it can be dangerous, so can lots of other things we use/do all the time, and people manage to learn to use/do those things. I don't know what it's like in Italy, but here, it's arguably more dangerous to call an "electrician" because everything is "mai pen rai" (don't worry about it), including things you personally might actually worry about like, you know, having outdoor power sockets in a waterproof box, or sealing the underground conduit, or connecting an earth, or not just twisting wires together and taping them up, or turning off the breaker before connecting things to existing circuits. (Literally all things I've had to fix because "a professional" did it). Besides the wiring from the meter to the breaker boxes (yes boxes, plural, because $reasons), and the wiring to the A/C units, there isn't much in this house where I haven't had to change/fix some aspect of the wiring. Occasionally just to do something different, but almost always that inevitably ends up involving a fix for whatever retarded thing the previous "professional" did.