Articles about Israel
Real World
Repairs

People in most western countries spend tinker, fix, repair, and work on appliances, cars, or things in their homes. They know where to go for supplies. They realize that a repairman would charge much more money, and they may feel that they could do the job well enough themselves. They also know exactly how they want the job to look and how they want it to work out. They will put in that extra effort to get it done their way. A professional may hurry the job through.

Israelis don't do their own work. All Israelis know and hire mechanics for their computers, car, or home.

This may be be surprising, since Israelis have less money than those in the West. We could save money by doing things ourselves.

Some Israelis are beginning to learn about it. Do-it-yourself shops are increasing in number, but they are stocked with expensive items. Company repair personnel, on the other hand, know where to get cheaper supplies. They might deal directly with importers.

People usually don't try to figure out how to do repairs themselves. We may take courses in maintenance, but they will then know only things that are taught in the course. We do not tinker with things. The entire culture of work yourself independently and repairing it seems to be either asleep or lost.

Thus, if you discuss repairs that you did on the car, you'll be welcomed with a blank stare. We won't know what you're talking about or why you bothered to do it. We'll give you a tip about a qualified serviceman.

That doesn't mean that the life of a a repairman or serviceman is easy. People hire these professionals so that they give them advice on how to do their job well.

Picture a family standing around the fellow who was hired to do the work. He's being paid by the hour but we all give him conflicting advice.

It's not what you're used to.

Where do you want to go now?

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