Discussion»Questions»Business» What jobs or businesses that you grew up with no longer exist? Which ones from today you don't see making it in the future?
Sportsman who don't like to sharpen their hunting knives or not good at it. People with really expensive and high end kitchen cutlery. Tradesmen who have strange tool shapes that are difficult to sharpen without jigs.
I take my ice auger blades to a place that sharpens things because I tend to screw up the angle on them. Big expensive carbide drill bits are another one I'll drop off and pay $2-$5 a bit.
I stand corrected and educated. I didn't think about any of that. There was a time when I carried a nine and a half inches long Cold Steel, and a Leatherman, and for some strange reason, I never, ever thought of taking them anywhere to get sharpened. Even when, as you probably know, sharpening a carbon steel blade is no easy task. I just never thought about it. Great point, Glis.
Stainless. Those are stainless and yeah it is a pain in the butt to sharpen but they hold longer. A real pain in the butt. Regular carbon steel sharpens easier butt rust and loses it's burr a little faster. My Ka-bar I take camping I can get razor sharp pretty quick. The stainless Buck knives and Cold Steels I don't even bother working on anymore because for the few bucks to take to the hardware store that sharpens saves so much headache and frustration. Serrated blades are exceptionally obnoxious.
10inch blade? Holy kwap! That's a big everyday carry lol. Rough area?
Im not really sure that a stainless steel knife would hold the edge longer than carbon steel. I am of the thinking that its capacity to hold the edge and blade hardness are sorta the main feature of Carbon steel. But hey, I could be wrong. I opted for a very sharp angle when sharpening, which made it very sharp but, the edge wouldn't last as long. I used to be able to shave my arms with it. Not that I shave my arms, but you know what I mean. I carried a k bar once, for a while, but I found it too small for me. Maybe it was a man thing, you know? Being the one pulling out the biggest. . .knife. . .you know what I mean?
If you look into sharpening things you quickly realize why a person who makes his living with knives refuses to sharpen them himself. You are talking about two different professions. Most amateurs don't even know what "sharp" really means. Here is a demonstration:
I also thought about cooks, chefs you know, and butchers, and landscapers, when you mentioned people that make their living using sharp tools. I wonder if hospitals sharpen their medical stuff. Thinking about it now, it makes perfect sense, the need for a sharpener guy. (What's his trade name anyway, Sharpenner?, maybe?) I watched the video, and about ten more after that one on sharpening things. Thanks for going to the trouble of posting it, JV.
There are actually two that I know of in a 2 mile radius of my house; one that we actually have used. Both are run by very old guys that have been doing the trade for decades.
I do believe that once they go, so will the business.
There are still full service gas stations on the New Jersey Turnpike. I don't think the state doesn't allow you to pump your own gas. They were trying to change that, but I think the legislation didn't pass.
There aren't any around here anymore. I was kind of sad when we closed our pumps, it marked a turning point for me. It seemed to be when people turned, en masse, away from local businesses and personal service toward big corp chains, big box stores and self-service. The sense of community I grew up with is largely lacking today.
There are some times when I prefer to do business with the mom and pop stores because of the personal relationships they encourage. Other times, I'm more price oriented and will shop where the price/value ration is better and that's usually in a big box store or chain store. I've always lived in NYC, so the sense of community is a little different than in a suburban enclave.
We were in a rural area then. Where I am now, it is a mixture from cornfields and swaths of acreage to neighborhoods just outside the city limits. I mostly shop at locally-owned businesses, which are comparable in price for many things and even cheaper for some. There are a few of the big stores I do shop at occasionally, Home Depot, Jo Ann's and Staples mainly, but I cannot get the things I do there in the mom-n-pop stores. I do have a good local hardware, but they don't carry everthing HD does. I'm not a big shopper, though...I've been to the mall here only a few times and that usually for Craftsman tools, lol.
I don't really recall. Last time I was there was a couple of weeks ago, but my sense of smell hasn't recovered from my allergic reaction earlier this winter.
This post was edited by Bozette at March 12, 2017 4:15 PM MDT
We have a bunch of mom and pop stores in my neighborhood, like a strip mall type area, but most of the stores are now owned by Russians and they have no interest in customers other than their own. I've tried buying in their stores a couple of times and have been treated rudely. I generally drive out to Long Island on the weekends and shop out there where people are pleasant and the cashiers say "Thank you" when they hand you your change. I used to shop in JoAnn a lot, but unbeknownst to me, they signed me up for some magazine nonsense and every month I got charged $7.00 but never got a magazine. When I called them about it, they said it was a one-month trial and f I wanted to unsubscribe, I had to do it by mail. I told them I never agreed to any such thing. I finally got my credit card company to remove all the charges and JoAnn lost a customer. I can find most anything I need in Michael's or A.C. Moore.
I would go to Michael's, but they are clear over by the mall and I avoid that area unless it's absolutely necessary to go there.
I've never had any problem with Jo Ann's, but I don't use a credit card, either. Between sales, the % off entire purchase and the $5 rebates I've been getting, I'm not complaining. (I'm also cheap...lol)
The mom-n-pops here are either locals born and bred, or Arabs, and they all give me exceptional service. It's just really nice dealing with people who know me and not having to deal with red tape to resolve a problem.
This post was edited by Bozette at March 12, 2017 4:10 PM MDT
My first job was as a Morse telegraphist. We stopped using that in Oz in 1959. When I met Mrs Didge about that time she was a comptometrist. (Google it.) Milliners are a bit thin on the ground these days and even the old cobbler doesn't get a lot of work. Nor do fletchers.
What skills will be lost in future? Their name is legion. There won't be much need for mail deliveries. Retail workers will rapidly be replaced by on-line sales. Publishers and book stores will give way to eBooks. So will print journalism.
"Journalism" is up for grabs and newspapers are dying for lack of purpose, but I don't think print will ever die. Readers want ink and paper pages. Ebooks are primarily for archives.
Benedict Arnold 