"Specialization is for Insects" by Robert Heinlein (1973)

 Tonight, I got home from work late, cooked dinner (baked mac and cheese from scratch), got some (homemadeish) chicken noodle soup to my wife's sick friend, and read, looked up, and reset the check engine code on my wife's car.

I think cooking and working on cars (I can do slightly more than just plug in the code reader) are skills we often think of at opposite ends of a spectrum. Which brings me to my favorite Heinlein quote (it may be literally the only Heinlein quote I like):

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Which is from Time Enough for Love which is not on the list of 3 or 4 Heinlein novels I've read. There are about a million "what a man/human being/adult should be able to do" lists floating around the Internet. Heinlein's is one of the more difficult (I definitely do not know how to butcher a hog or conn a ship.), but the second sentence is a hell of a zinger. I also like how what's on these lists tends to change over time. 30 years ago, you definitely needed to know how to hook up and program a VCR. Today, you should know how to clear your catch and change/reset a laptop battery.

It also kind of reminds me of a story, which I can't fine no matter how many times I Google for it. The gist, as I remember it, is that a guy is visiting his girlfriend's family for the first time. The mom is trying to cook 30 things at once, and he goes to help her. The dad tells him "blah blah blah, women's work" etc. The boyfriend asks him if men are supposed to be self sufficient in his culture. The dad agrees, and the boyfriend points out you need to know how to cook to not starve. And then everyone clapped.

At the end of the day, that's a big part of what this blog is about. I've learned so many things about culture, philosophy, history, and just what it means to be a half decent human being.