But there are times when I wonder if the person who has written the instructions has ever seen the product they are trying to help you assemble? For example, I’ve had those small tables or bookshelves where you are to put “tab B” into “slot A” for assembly. And neither of these items actually fit together. One or the other is slightly off to make a proper connection. I know you understand what I’m talking about.
Another thing that comes to my mind is trying to work on some computer program. They give the “instruction” (that is if you can now figure out where they are on the website!). No one gets a printed instruction manual any longer. When you read the information that is meant to help you operate the system, it is often assumed that you already know most of the steps on how to do it! I always think “if I knew how to do it, I wouldn’t need the instructions!” But it never seems to work out that way.
Sometimes however following the instructions can be very beneficial. Years ago in one of my college classes we had a final exam. The professor instructed the class to read the instructions very carefully before taking the exam. Upon looking at the test there were 100 questions. There were also included FIVE pages of instructions!
Upon reading the instructions we found the following: On page three of the instructions we were told to answer FIVE specific questions within the test (such as 7, 21, 38, 66, and 80). Of course, I don’t remember if these were the exact questions we had to answer, but you get the idea. After answering these questions we were told to sign the exam and turn in our papers.
Many in the class had very puzzled looks on their faces when they began to see their classmates turning in their papers and leaving the room. They had decided to NOT read the instructions, but began answering the test questions. They had made a BIG mistake!
There are other times when instructions can be very simple, but we with our so-called superior intellect decide to make them very difficult by trying to reason on what the instructions MEANT to say instead of just following the instructions given. But then again we must remember: We’re only human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
THOUGHTFUL GEM
"Why do we not have the time to do something right,
but we have the time to do it over!"
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