Home Repair for Dummies

A few years ago I read this really wonderful book titled Other People's Words. In the book author and researcher Victoria Purcell-Gates spent two years working with an illiterate mother and her struggling son. Her goal was to come to better understand the cycle of illiteracy while helping this family to learn to read and write. Along the way she found that our society, as well as our educational system, often works to exclude the illerate. The parents of this child were unable to use public transportation, read labels on packages when shopping, or even help him with elementary school homework. Throw in the bulging sack of stereotypes this family, and especially their son, had to overcome at school and it was easy to see that the deck was stacked to all but ensure failure.

But this young boy was not alone. There were many, many more filling the seats of area classrooms. Together they comprised the group that consistently ranks lowest in terms of national education norms, have higher drop out and absence rates, and more commonly experience learning problems. Who are they? They are white, urban Appalachian children.

Over her two years Gates learned a lot. First, she learned that these families were not illiterate. Rather, they were low-literate. They relied heavily upon oral communication. Their heritage was rooted in oral stories and communication- to such a degree that print often had little use and and was of little importance. To help these children meant to first overcome cultural elitism and work to better understand the kids and their families.

One of the many things that Gates came to understand about these families was that while they struggled with print they were incredibly proficient in a variety of other areas. While their vast knowledge fell outside of what modern society seems to value most - being "book" smart or having a specialized area of expertise- they had learned the skills that were most valued within their culture; the skills that helped them to survive. For instance, they did not need to call a plumber to fix a leaky pipe, an electrician to install or repair wiring, or a mechanic to change the oil pan gasket. They were self-sufficient.

I thought of this recently when calling the Heating and Cooling guy out to check out our air conditioner. Tricia, the kids, and I had returned from our last trip of the summer to find that the second story AC was not working properly. Although air seemed to be coming out of the registers it definitely was not cold. The temperature on the thermostat rose and rose throughout the day. After topping out in the mid-eighties my mom took her PJs and fled for the comfort of the third floor while our friend, and housemate, Tim did the same, opting for the couch in the living room.

Being as close to immune to hot weather as two people can be, Tricia and I flipped on the overhead fan, threw open our bedroom windows, and found it rather comfortable. Still, despite having to dip into our savings,we were pleased to know that the AC guy would be showing up the next morning and that the unit would be fixed soon.

After a total of fourteen minutes spent looking at the thermostat, playing with the circuit breakers, and looking at the unit on the side of the house, he declared the air conditioner in good working condition again. As he made out the bill I asked him what the problem was. Keeping a straight face, which seems in retrospect that it must have been hard to do, he explained that there was a bad storm while we were gone and that one of the circuit breakers had tripped. As he handed me the bill I looked down and saw that I was preparing to pay in excess of $100 so that he could walk into the garage and flip a switch back to the "on" position.

I'd like to say this was my first time paying for a ridiculously easy fix. Heck, I'd like to say it was the first time I had paid someone to flip a circuit breaker back on. But it wasn't.

And I ask myself...should we, as a society, redefine smart?