fish or fishing rod?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/give_a...for_a_lifetime
With reference to the phrase "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Are you a "giver of fish" or a "teacher of fishing" and which should we be?

Tony,
Your link does not work, but nonetheless, I like to think of my self as the "teacher of fishing." And we know from experience here that many of the OPs are truly fishing. Sometimes the requests are just "fishy" and sometimes the OPs responses to solutions smell like week old fish.

Alan

I guess the link isn't that important.

I go for the teacher of fishing route but I am always puzzled by the determination in others to intervene with a fish

Tony H sitting down to fish and chips with mushy peas.

Mushy Peas??? Is that a delicacy in London? I like my peas fresh from the pod and raw.

no way ,a real Londoner wouldn't touch that northern goo!

Hmm and I always thought it was...
"give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can get rid of him for a whole weekend"

Im most cases, I try to teach fishing, but just now and then I just pass on a caught fish

@ Martin, my (late) dad was a cockney, loved his mash and peas and liquor (or however you spell that lol)

Trouble is, very often people ask for fish, when they actually want chicken...

"no way ,a real Londoner wouldn't touch that northern goo!"

Easy, Martin, easy! 'Appens to be some of us what are on t'forum're northerners!

Originally Posted by FDibbins

I'm most cases, I try to teach fishing, but just now and then I just pass on a caught fish

Ford, that nails it exactly for me. I LIKE to think I'm a teacher, but I admit sometimes I just want the fish, too, so I catch it and pass it on.

I don't think there is a 'one size fits all' approach. Some want a fish pie, others a fish, still others to learn to fish and some just need to be told to go jump in a lake.

LOL i really like that last part Rory

I suppose that the code doesn't really speak for itself - although I seldom furnish it with explanatory commentary

Originally Posted by Alf

If all the herrings the Norwegian fishermen caught in 1985 was laid side by side in the Sahara desert oh boy what a stink that would make!

Alf

then the Swedish would gather them up, put them in a tin and call it Surströmming

@ Martin, my (late) dad was a cockney, loved his mash and peas and liquor (or however you spell that lol)

but they would be fresh garden peas or frozen not mashed up marrow fat peas