🔧 Could You Actually Do This Without Googling It?

Published September 11, 2026

Here's a fun way to discover just how dependent we've become on our phones.

Someone walks up to you and says, “I'll give you $1,000 if you can change this flat tire right now.”

No YouTube. No Google. No calling your dad. Could you actually do it?

A new American poll asked people how confident they were doing four basic life skills completely without instructions. And frankly, I think we need the Canadian version.

Here’s how it went:

🍚 1. Cook white rice: 73% were completely confident.
Another 17% figured they could probably pull it off.

I love the confidence because rice has exactly two settings: perfect... or wet drywall.

👶 2. Change a dirty diaper: 67% were completely confident.
Boomers and Gen X were especially sure of themselves.

Parents know this isn't a skill. It's combat training. If you've changed a blowout in the back seat of a car at a Tim Hortons parking lot, you deserve a certificate.

🧵 3. Sew a button back on: 60% were completely confident.

Boomers once again led the confidence department.

Meanwhile, millennials are looking at the missing button thinking, “Well, I guess this shirt is a cardigan now.”

And finally...

🚗 4. Change a flat tire: Only 39% were completely confident.

Another 22% said they could probably do it.

“Probably” is doing some heavy lifting here.

Because there's knowing theoretically how to change a tire...

…and there's sitting on the shoulder of Highway 400 holding a jack thinking, “Okay... which part of the car am I allowed to lift?”