In a world of specialization most people are rushing to become an expert in their area at the virtual neglect of other skills. Can you be a good nurse, graphic designer, actor, teacher, and still be a well rounded handyman? Maybe our interest just isn't there, or we see the ability to outsource household projects as a luxury our parents didn't have. Still, handymen are less and less common in typical homes today.

I was interested in this topic after reading I can't do one quarter of the things my father can by Scriblerus. He explores the nature of men today, challenging that they are less able to "take care of things" the way previous generations could. He ventures into some interesting reasoning behind the abandonment of handyman personalities.

Keep in mind that this is an opinion piece, and by his own account, the survey he cites was highly speculative. Still, it raises an interesting question. This may not apply directly to you as a keen DIY'er, but many men do not have the skills of confidence to take on household projects the way their Dad's did. DIY for many people means looking up a phone number and making the call. Many men, having grown up around handy fathers, still know the basics rules of thumb around fixing and building, but will they pass it on to the next generation? Likely not.

Do you think that the handyman is a dying breed? I don't think people in general are as handy as they have previously been. How do you account for this difference? What do you think of it?

Somewhere along the way, all our fathers became the same. Anyone who laughs at Chevy Case in National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, John Candy in The Great Outdoors, or Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story recognizes those iconic fathers as representations of our own. Each one of our fathers is determined to fix things himself, come hell or high water, and when I started Do-It-Yourself stuff around my own home, I had visions of my own "Old Man" tinkering with things around the house to "improve" them. However, when he came to visit a few weeks ago, I was reminded how I learned the value of home-improvement from my Dad. A lesson that is not easily forgotten.