<VV> Providing Answers

[Kevin Spargur]

Smitty,

You're preaching to the choir on being used and abused for the knowledge 
each of us posses.  I for one have been taken advantage of just as you 
though not in regards to Corvairs and such.

I was brought up to always do good and to help others and that, 
eventually- if done with the right heart/mind/attitude, it will always 
come back in time.  Sometimes, I wonder exactly when all the good will 
come back though that is not the reason why I did what I did at the time 
I did it.  There have been times where I needed help and the very ones 
who I had helped were "too busy" or "don't have the time".  Other times, 
I helped only to see my work show up in someone else's hands and the 
person I helped receiving the credit for it.  Though it did/does 
bothered me, I knew my heart was in the right place and that was all 
that mattered.

Knowing what I know now, will/would I do it again?  I'll answer with a 
resounding MOST DEFINITELY!  My heart and attitude were/are in the right 
place and, in the end, that is all that matters in the eyes of God.  
Does it mean that I will probably be taken advantage of in the future?  
Most likely so.  As a result of past "perceived" injustices, will I no 
longer offer or be less likely to provide open help outside of the scope 
of directing individuals to the source for their answers?  Most likely 
not except in extreme cases... such as those where people absolutely 
refuse to either help themselves or are not willing to learn.

All I am saying is, don't give up on people.  We must educate those who 
ask for assistance but we must also be willing to take that education 
beyond the scope of just pointing those same people to a paper 
reference.  Do you remember the older Chiltons manuals?  They give 
details for certain procedures but fail to enlighten as to what other 
steps you may need to perform in order to get to the place where you can 
perform what you need to.  My experience with both Chiltons manuals and 
computers has taught me that, unless someone has the technical 
background to accompany the printed resource, the printed resource in 
most cases can be more of a hinderance than a help.

To each his own.  I will continue trying to help others as I would like 
to be helped.  If that means I get taken advantage of sometimes, then so 
be it.  However, I prefer to look at it as another opportunity for me to 
learn and to help them learn.

Kevin Spargur
'67 Monza 2-dr HT
Jacksonville, Florida

Hubert A Smith wrote:

>Smitty Says:     For a good 15-20 years after I got interested in
>Corvairs I went all out to help people.  I gave up entire weekends to
>newbies, rebuilding carbs, setting up diffs or adjusting rockers.  Always
>trying to teach.  I only had one agenda, and that was to make ownership
>enjoyable so we could build more Corvair enthusiasts.  I gave away good
>parts to help them and took time away from my own projects and family. 
>After a while I realized that I was simply fooling myself.  The people I
>was helping were simply using my services to get their heap fixed up and
>running so they could sell it.  Easily over 95% were cultivating me just
>for that purpose. One of the shining examples was a cute 16 year old high
>school girl that had a bad valve on a 102 engine in her 63 Vair.  The
>club made a weekend project of robbing a head off of a perfectly good 102
>engine one of the guys had in storage, and putting it on her engine.  The
>guys made it plain that all they wanted from her was an article we could
>publish in our newsletter.  As I expected, she dissappeared ino the
>woodwork, never to be seen again.  In another case one of our
>"occasional" club members asked me to adjust the carbs on his car.  As
>usual I broke out one of my sheets with printed instructions on it and
>made him follow me step by step through the procedure.  I found that he
>had a slight intake valve leak and told him it wouldn't run any better
>till that was fixed.  I also found a float valve leaking slightly so I
>replaced it.  He asked if I would show him how to rebuild the carbs and I
>agreed, so next weekend we went through that procedure.  I reminded him
>he had a valve problem that would have to be fixed before it would idle
>at 100%.  Next thing at a club meeting a few weeks later I see that he
>has a pair of Clarks or Youngs or Hatchells carbs on the engine.  I asked
>him why and he said, there was something wrong with the ones I had
>rebuilt because it wouldn't idle real smooth.  Then he asked me to
>synchronize the carbs.  It told him to read the instructions I had
>provided.  He didn't know where the instructions were.
>        I'm not saying this is always going to be the case, but it is
>often enough that I just don't get off on mentoring anymore.  I am glad
>for you, for whom it works.
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