Monday, December 05, 2005

Ten things everyone should know how to do

In my travels through the omnimedia world, I came a across a certain celebrity’s list of thirty things that everyone should know how to do. (Don’t ask me who the celebrity was, or I’ll be forced to tell you.) Being neither a celebrity, nor an expert I certainly don’t have thirty tasks that I think that everyone should be able to execute, but Danielle and I got to talking, and we were able to come up with ten. Our list differs in its philosophy from the original (click at your own risk), but every one of our items is, without a doubt, a good thing.

Ten things everyone should know how to do (in no particular order):

  • Perform CPR
  • Stop bleeding
  • Change a tire
  • Wrap a gift
  • Change a diaper
  • Cook one full meal
  • Balance a checkbook
  • Compute a tip without a calculator
  • Do your own laundry
  • Turn off the water/operate a household circuit breaker

1 comment:

Tim said...

I'm with you that there's something very off and/or incoherent about Martha's list -- I'm not entirely sure how items like "crudités" or "have a first aid kit" are even something that you can "know how to do." (On your list, "stop bleeding" would be the only one I would complain about, and that's only because it's a tad vague: "give first aid" would be better.) Why didn't Martha make three lists: ten things every household shold have, ten things every cook should be able to make, and then ten things everyone should know how to do?

At the same time, I like two items of hers that you left off: how to iron a shirt and how to load and use a dishwasher. I'm stunned at how often, in living with other people, I've encountered grown folks who don't know these things and don't want to ask.

Here's one other big one I might add:

1) Use a computer and the internet to write an e-mail, search for information, and buy something.