What I learned in auto shop

I wasn't the best student Elmira High ever had. In fact, when they graded on a curve, I made everyone else look better. Not stupid, I just had trouble focusing. I failed to see the need to memorize dates in history class, or the practical purpose of knowing what the inside of a frog looks like. Unless of course, one aspired to be a frog doctor. I'm more of a nuts and bolts kind of guy. Some would say more 'nuts' than 'bolts'.

Now for those who have leaped ahead, and are expecting to be told how auto shop was the only class which held my interest, you would be wrong. Auto shop was taught by a teacher assigned to teach this class, and who had more of an interest in blowing smoke rings in the teachers lounge than cars. Perhaps he was just killing time until his public employees retirement kicked in. Perhaps he was a frustrated frog doctor.

What I learned in auto shop is a good student is one with an interest and a need. You will learn what that is sticking out of the valve cover after excessive RPMs, and you will need to fix it. The noise from the differential is probably the spider gears or side pinions again. One might say I drove myself to be a good student. Life will teach us what we need to know. Every now and then, we need to drive with the headers open and the window down...


And I still don't care what the inside of a frog looks like.
John