What is common between your electrician and your computer repair guy?

Careless attitude and insensitivity.

They just don't care for your product as well as your concerns. They are here to postpone things, misguide people and rework number of times, even for a simplest problem. Moreover, they won't show any signs of embarrassment for their endless delays and for their adamancy in collecting the money from you. If you are convinced with this answer, you can continue to read this post. Otherwise, wait for some time, until your electrical items or your computer starts creating problems.

Addressing only these two kinds of guys is not well deserved, at least in this post. There are other great men like plumbers, marriage brokers, house brokers, etc., who are all ready to populate your worry-list. But there is a striking commonality between all these men we are talking about. They all belong to one sector of people called "service people". I don't think there is any pride associated with this term. But they are protected from any forms of disruptive economy. You got it right! They are not affected by recession; they are not affected by global economic melt down. Your average-quality pipe can not understand the prevailing circumstances and can start leaking at any point of time, making you seek for a plumber.

I had such bad experiences from my child hood itself. There was one electrician called Athmarao. He was the hero for the whole mass of my street. It was very difficult to catch him for any kind of electrical or motor related works. The demand was so much that, I was often sent to his house at weird times like 6 AM, sacrificing my sleep, to catch him red-handed and to bring him to my house. The number of Athmarao's is only increasing nowadays and their attitude remains unchanged. Times have changed, but the problems that give livelihood to these people, have not changed. The problems are multiplied and they are even more complex then they were. This chaotic situation provides them with a bunch full of opportunities to make their living.

What kind of jobs will remain intact under any economic conditions? The answer is simple: All local jobs. Electrical appliances maintenance, computer repair etc. This is predicted by Peter Drucker or Alvin Tofler, who thinks about future, some how denying the underlying philosophy of "Arrow of time". Not only their jobs will be secure but also their pay will be higher. This trend is inevitable. A simple demand and supply chain rule governs this kind of lifestyle. There is no saturation limit yet to be reached for such "services".

As more and more people wants to be known as a "knowledge worker" rather than a simple "worker", parents are sending their children for basic education. This is sufficient for the children to learn something about science & mathematics, and the children will eventually change their mindset to become a scientist or at least an engineer.

The GAP between the actual services required for the problematic electrical appliances and the availability of people for this localized "service" starts at this juncture, when children go school. Though these people are not "respected" that much like an engineer, the trend will change. There is less number of people today, to do this kind of work. But this situation itself can not be blamed for the lack of attitude shown by our "service" guys.

No way to solve this problem. As usual, this is an unanswerable situation. Like friction, the necessity of those people's "service" will be required, even if their attitude is not desirable.

Live with that necessary evil.