Handy

“I’m not particularly handy around the house, I’m practically useless when the zombie apocalypse finally comes,” the boyfriend told me before we moved in together. “No biggie,” I said.

Unlike many men who loved tinkering with things around the house, my boyfriend would rather leave the tinkering to the pros. The only tool that we bought when we were shopping for stuff for our first apartment was a set of screwdrivers for assembling stuff.

I was curious why he didn’t have the knack for DIY-ing. He said that growing up, his mom made sure that he and his sisters knew different types of housework, from cleaning the house to washing dishes to laundry and ironing clothes. He says that when he was in high school, he was the one ironing his uniforms.

His father was a builder, which sometimes makes me wonder why he wasn’t particularly handy, not that it mattered. He said that he used to go with his father to the job sites, especially during summer. His father’s line of work was not of great interest to him, the boyfriend told me. He’d usually find a secluded spot in the job site and settle down with the book he is currently reading.

The most complicated thing he has assembled was a Gundam kit. He said he did an okay job. I can’t really tell because he gave the kit away after assembling it. He says that putting together the kit was better than displaying it.

But what do we do if something needs to be repaired inside our home? If it’s something minor, we’d simply Google it or watch a tutorial video on YouTube. If it’s complicated and there is no possible way to DIY it, we’d call in the professionals. We have never been particular about the idea of trying to save money through DIY. For some people, that may be their thing. I know there’s a certain amount of pride fixing something inside the household. However, we spend most of our waking hours working online and attempting (and failing) to fix something which is essentially out of our depth is a hassle which we’d rather avoid.

For us, it’s like getting a cab, instead of taking public transportation. We don’t go to an office five times a week. That means that we only go out (mostly to eat out and hunt for toys) during the weekend and we’d rather spend a little extra to get to our destination comfortably. The same thing applies when we need something fixed. We’re more than happy to pay a little extra if that meant that the job is done right the first time.