Grease Under the Nails
Within the Bauer family there seems to be some kind of right of male passage established by my father and now being continued with my son. I am sure every family has their own "requirements for membership." For my father it was learning from his father who was a machinist building complex parts for Hughes Aircraft. While his exacting father was often disapproving in his ability, my father's striving to please my grandfather taught my father many skills. In my case, as I reached junior high school and continuing into high school, it was a directive by my father to take Shop. I resisted and I complained. I was an actor, a thespian. I was a debater, an intellectual. How could I be expected to take shop? My father insisted and usually when this was the case it was a battle I would ultimately lose. In junior high school it was the "Industrial Arts." I learned the names of tools and made boxes out of tin. I spent a semester continuing an unfinished shop p