Ever opened a box containing a new purchase and found a folded-up piece of paper that looks like it belongs in a medical library? Sixty-four pages. Eleven languages. Six-point type. Enough diagrams to qualify for an engineering degree. I think they are called instruction manuals, but I am not sure. I have never actually read one. And therein lies the problem.
Reading instructions seems easy enough, yet many of us refuse to do it. Especially men. We prefer to figure things out ourselves, even when doing so requires three hours, four tools we do not own and a phone call to someone who knows better.
Learning Stream, an education and training company, identified seven reasons people avoid instruction manuals. I read the list. Well, most of it. Here is what I learned.
1. We do not have time. We buy something because we need it now. Who has time to read 64 pages when there is a swamp to drain and alligators nipping at our rear ends? Besides, the product probably has only three buttons. How complicated can it be?
2. We are lazy. Reading instructions requires effort. So does taking apart something we assembled incorrectly. Somehow, we convince ourselves that the first option requires more work.
3. We already know everything. This is especially true when assembling Adirondack chairs, grills or anything with wheels. We have done this before. We have watched a video. We have experience. Then we discover six extra bolts, a backward-facing bracket and a left-side panel installed on the right.
4. We are not too bright. I object to this one. Not because it is necessarily wrong but because I do not appreciate being insulted by a list I am reading without instructions.
5. We think common sense is enough. How hard can it be to assemble a child’s bicycle? A frame. Two wheels. A chain. Easy-peasy. Four hours later, the bicycle is still in pieces, the garage floor resembles a hardware store explosion, and the child has asked three times when the bike will be ready.
6. We would rather call a help line. Absolutely not. Who wants to spend 45 minutes on hold listening to music that sounds like it was recorded underwater, only to have someone read the same instructions we refused to read in the first place?
7. The instructions are poorly written. Finally, a legitimate complaint! Who writes these things? Have they ever seen the product? Do they know which end goes up? And why do we always seem to have either too many parts or not enough?
I will admit that I have fallen into every one of these traps. I have attacked projects with confidence, ignored the instructions and convinced myself that the manufacturer could not possibly know more about the product than I do. My wife, Jolene, has watched this process more than once. There is a certain point in every assembly project when confidence gives way to frustration, frustration gives way to silence, and silence gives way to a few words that are not appropriate for a family publication.
I would like to state that I have learned my lesson, but I don’t want to mislead you. Besides, I have a new project coming up, and I am already pretty sure I know how to do it. If Jolene is reading this, I want her to know that I will at least look for the instructions this time. I did not say I would read them.
Have a fantastic Friday and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital newsletter
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707