Originally Posted by hallstevenson
I won't offer to do it for anyone (unless I knew they had circumstances where they could use some help). If someone asked, I'd just tell them to supply the stuff and not ask for money. Buy a pizza for my family ? Fine with that.
Reason I don't offer is like someone else said. No matter who it is, you can get some people who blame you for other things because you're the last person that touched it. I quit fixing people's computers for the same reason. One guy paid me to 'clean' his PC of virii, malware, etc. Two weeks later, his mouse physically died (hardware) and he asked me "what did I do that caused that?".
Well put and exactly how I feel. I only help people who really need the help and/or whom I truly trust.
I'm by no means a skilled mechanic, but I've been curious (and broke enough at one point) to learn the basics, and then help others or pass on my knowledge to other new DIY guys. I also knew these people well and felt reasonably sure they wouldn't blame me should something unrelated go wrong. I haven't really helped anyone recently, though. Mostly everyone around me has moved up in life and have chosen to pay someone else to do their work. Neither they nor those of us who are more handy tend to have schedules that match up, anyway. It's unfortunate, because doing simple jobs for people who really appreciate the help was incredibly rewarding. Receiving praise like you're some genius after a simple brake job was always nice.
When I was in the Navy I'd also help out around the hobby shop to earn free lift time (and because it was fun and I usually learned something, too). In those instances, instead of taking over or being super hands-on, I would simply point things out, offer advice, and let others do their own work. One thing I shared more than anything else was providing the answer to: how hard can I hit/pull/bend this thing to free it up. LOL. Most people doing their own work for the first time were usually too dainty with the tools, fasteners and parts, thinking they might break easily.