My father, as I stated earlier in the thread, was very passive. Here's a couple stories about him that changed something in me.
When I was 14, I was building my first engine. It was a basic 350 SBC, all stock rebuild. My father showed me how to do it several times, allowed me to help out, and then this one was the first one done on my own from start to finish. When I was done with it, I put in the oil, primed the system, and started it up to begin the break-in process. About 5 minutes into the break-in, I start hearing a knocking sound that was getting progressively louder. I shut the engine off, asked my father for his opinion, and he said I forgot to torque the rod bolts on the #2 rod. He watched me skip that rod and said nothing. I was mad, asked why he didn't say anything then, and he said it was because I wouldn't have learned my lesson. That he told me several times before to always double check my torque specs, that he didn't need to say it again, and it was time to learn the lesson the hard way. I had to tear it down, clean the crank, and replace the bearing it chewed up. I was upset with him for a while after that, but I've been strict on my torque specs, double and triple checking, ever since then so it had the intended effect.
When I was 17, the Xbox 360 came out, and a friend of mine got one. One day, I skipped school. I left the house like I was going to school but drove to my friend's house instead and playing on the Xbox all day. I then came home at my normal time, thinking I'd gotten away with it. The next morning, I was woken up to my alarm about 30 minutes earlier than usual. My backpack was at the side of my bed and very full and heavy. The entire 800 page shop manual for my car was in the backpack, and it had a note stuck to it that read "We know you skipped school yesterday. When you put your car back together, you can drive to school again. Until then, catch the bus." or something to that affect. I stepped outside to find my car on blocks, the wheels off, brakes all apart and fluid drained, suspension taken apart, every light bulb removed, exhaust removed, half the engine torn down, the cam spun out of time, sensors all unplugged and removed, every fuse and relay removed, bolts tossed in a common bucket, radiator removed, all oils and fluids drained, rear axles removed from the housing, driveshaft was out, trans pan was off and valve body removed, etc... he had spent over 5 hours through the night tearing the car apart. I couldn't use the internet for help, only that manual. I couldn't use power tools, only hand tools. I couldn't ask for help except from him and only on things where a second person was necessary such as bleeding the brakes or checking lights. It took me about 3 weeks, working on it a couple hours each day after school, to put it back together and driving. Let me tell you, I didn't skip school again, and got to know that car very well.