Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

50 Things a Man Should Be Able To Do
Blog ^

Posted on 07/28/2010 5:41:48 PM PDT by Kimmers

50 Things a Man Should Be Able To Do Friday, July 23, 2010, 8:00 AM Joe Carter

[Note: Every Friday on First Thoughts we host a discussion about some aspect of pop culture. Today’s theme is "Renaissance Man" lists. Have a suggestion for a topic? Send them to me at jcarter@firstthings.com.]

Every man does not need to know how to tie a bow tie. Let’s get that clear up front. I don’t know why it is on every “Things a Man Should Know How to Do” list but it’s simply not true. If you have a reason to wear a bow tie (e.g., you’re going to prom, your name is George Will) then you can ask someone or you can look it up. That’s what Google and preppie college Republican exist.

But there are some things that every man should be able to do. Here are fifty. Not necessarily the fifty most important (though some are), just fifty things a man should be able to do if he wants to live a good life.

1. Forgive your parents – They did the best they could . . . or they didn’t. Either way, you’re a man now so it’s time to move on.

2. Ask your parents to forgive you—You know what you did. They do too.

3. Change a diaper so that the baby is cleaner and you are no dirtier than when you started.

4. Perform CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.

5. Use a soldering iron to fix a loose connection.

6. Comfort a child—If you want to judge the character of a man, observe how he treats a child. He may not have any himself—he may not even like kids—but if he can provide them comfort when they are scared or hurting then he can’t be all bad.

7. Cook one signature dish.

8. Calculate square footage—Width x length.

9. Innocently flirt with a woman at least twice your age—Without causing offense or being disrespectful, of course.

10. Write three coherent, connected, and grammatically correct paragraphs—If it’s really necessary, you should be able to repeat the process well enough to add three more. Unless you have a job that requires extensive writing, that’s probably all you’ll ever need to get by.

11. Navigate your way around an unfamiliar city without getting completely and utterly lost.

12. Differentiate between various types of mortgages and insurances and know which one is best for your situation.

13. Get a prostate exam without crying.

14. Know what a prostate is.

15. Make and follow a budget so that you can get out of—and stay out of—debt.

16. Tell a spellbinding (though not necessarily true) story.

17. Survive in water for at least a few minutes without drowning– 71 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. You’re bound to fall into it sometime.

18. Know the four lifesaving steps—stop the bleeding, start the breathing, protect the wound, treat for shock.

19. Give a great compliment—Tip: Be specific, be sincere.

20. Tell a joke that is (a) clean, and (b) funny.

21. Make a brief, informative speech in public without having an anxiety attack and/or using PowerPoint.

22. Type with more than two fingers.

23. Know how to use the mass transit system in any city within 100 miles of his home.

24. Use reference materials to find out any information that you’ll ever need to know.

25. Recite the Ten Commandments from memory—If you remember them, it’s easier to follow them; if you follow them you’ll avoid about 90 percent of the self-inflicted damage that will screw up your life.

26. Carry on a conversation with someone who bores you to tears.

27. Recognize when you are boring someone to tears with your inane banter.

28. Make a plan for the first 24 hours after a zombie apocalypse—Sounds silly but you’d be surprised how much you can learn about yourself by thinking through unlikely scenarios.

29. Perfectly cook scrambled eggs.

30. Push-start a car with a manual transmission—By the way, as I learned in the summer of 1988, you can’t push start a car with an automatic transmission. (I still don’t know why I was stomping on the brake as if it were a clutch.)

31. Tell the difference between snark and wit.

32. Properly maintain your basic form of transportation, whether it be a car, bike, horse, feet, etc.

33. Grow food—even if you never owned a vegetable garden, you need to understand the basic theory of how to grow food. When the zombie apocalypse happens, you’re going to be hungry.

34. Make it through the rest of your life without saying the thirty-seventh dumbest sentence in the English language: “I have to learn for myself.”

35. Endure an insult with grace.

36. Wash a load of white clothes without turning everything pink.

37. Load, shoot, and clean a firearm.

38. Admit being wrong in a situation that will cost you dearly.

39. Physically protect your loved ones and be willing to risk life and limb if necessary to keep them safe.

40. Lead your family in prayer.

41. Cogently explain and defend your most fundamental beliefs, preferably without raising your voice.

42. Hug another man.

43. Take harsh criticism without being defensive.

44. Differentiate between love and lust—and avoid the latter.

45. Recognize wisdom and know how to get it.

46. Help someone who is vomiting (without throwing up yourself).

47. Write a letter of recommendation.

48. Write a love letter.

49. Avoid the Three A’s That Ruin Your Life: Anger, Adultery, Apathy.

50. Be able to list at least 50 more things a man should be able to do.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: manlist; men; weakersex
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 161-180 next last
To: Mr. Silverback
But father hood a prison? That's a laugh. I have four kids, the oldest is 15 and being a dad is the best job going.

I'm glad you are in a happy marraige,, try one were the wife decides she no longer likes you, leaves and you have to pay child support for the next 20 yrs.

I've seen it over and over.

101 posted on 07/29/2010 2:22:18 PM PDT by MrPiper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: MrPiper

So what? That’s like saying home ownership is prison because someone couldn’t make their balloon payment.


102 posted on 07/29/2010 2:50:15 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Anyone who says we need illegals to do the jobs Americans won't do has never watched "Dirty Jobs.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 101 | View Replies]

To: TheOldLady

103 posted on 07/29/2010 5:12:27 PM PDT by 50mm (Valhalla I am coming)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 92 | View Replies]

To: Salamander; TheOldLady; maine yankee; humblegunner; Eaker; 50mm; shibumi; Allegra; Markos33; ...
Women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8J8Y5okMxA

50 "Hot For Natalie" MM....mmmmmm

104 posted on 07/29/2010 5:55:16 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 93 | View Replies]

To: SoothingDave

YES!!LOL


105 posted on 07/29/2010 7:14:09 PM PDT by annelizly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 96 | View Replies]

To: RandallFlagg
Heck yes.

And be ready and willing to cap an infected friend/family member if they get bitten.

Because nobody wants to be walkin' around like *that*.


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

106 posted on 07/29/2010 7:34:44 PM PDT by The Comedian (Evil can only succeed if good men don't point at it and laugh.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

Woman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL4n0kLvDZ4


107 posted on 07/29/2010 7:57:04 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 104 | View Replies]

To: The Comedian

But if they’re a zombie cappin em wont work, you’ll need radioactive hellfires at least.


108 posted on 07/29/2010 8:09:49 PM PDT by valkyry1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

I dont remember ever seeing that, pretty cute. Natalie Wood & Tony Curtis.


109 posted on 07/29/2010 8:18:01 PM PDT by valkyry1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 104 | View Replies]

To: Salamander
This is why I love Rachmaninoff:

Rach that itch

110 posted on 07/29/2010 8:29:09 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 107 | View Replies]

To: valkyry1
And Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk. It's a funny movie:

The Great Race

111 posted on 07/29/2010 8:31:40 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 109 | View Replies]

To: Kimmers

#51. Pimp a blog.


112 posted on 07/29/2010 8:34:47 PM PDT by stormer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

I’m partial to Mozart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXs93KbBCgY

[oh, yeah...like you didn’t see *that* coming]...;D


113 posted on 07/29/2010 8:45:36 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 110 | View Replies]

To: Salamander

114 posted on 07/29/2010 8:51:06 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 113 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

I watch it for the bikers.


115 posted on 07/29/2010 8:52:02 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 114 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dOsbsuhYGQ


116 posted on 07/29/2010 8:57:03 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 114 | View Replies]

To: Salamander

Leather and spikes! Yeah!


117 posted on 07/29/2010 9:00:02 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 116 | View Replies]

To: 50mm

Hell yeah.
[and chains!]

:)


118 posted on 07/29/2010 9:13:25 PM PDT by Salamander (And I think I need some rest but sleeping don't come very easy in a straight white vest.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 117 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido
Guess I gotta find a 106 year old chick to flirt with.

You think that you've got it bad -- I need to find a 126-year-old!

119 posted on 07/29/2010 9:22:51 PM PDT by Bob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Salamander
Here ya' go:

Mozart Goes To The Wolves

120 posted on 07/29/2010 9:24:39 PM PDT by 50mm (Uh oh!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 113 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140 ... 161-180 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson