Either the world has changed or me and my dad were some sort of anomaly. Back in the 70s and 80s we used to fix our own cars at frequently visited auto parts stores. We knew the people that worked a two of them name. DIY car repair continued for us until the early 90s. I again picked it up when I drove BMWs and again when I got my corvette. Working on the corvette led me to Austin DIY shop where you could rent a bay and tools for an hourly rate. The owner was reasonable and advertised on groupon. Eventually he informed me that groupon redemptions costed money and he told me he would be happy to honor the groupon rate verbally without having money go through groupon. Fair enough.
Now that my "rebound job" is working at an auto parts store. Very few white people fix their own cars with the exception of enthusiasts and the few that enjoy maintaining their own machine. Predominant customers are hispanic. They often prefer to deal with their own kind; would rather not deal with the gringo in the store. Fine. Assimilate with the new country and abandon the culture of the old. That does not happen.
Anyway, it begs the questions.... were we poor? Or were times different back then? My ancestors taught me to try and fix something broken by yourself. If successful, you save yourself the repair or replacement parts if successful. If it's still broken after an attempted repair, then you spend the money to have it fixed. I didn't perceive it as frugal behavior. I viewed it was accepting the challenge to resurrect a dead item. Everything is disposable now. Or too complicated
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