From The Storyteller
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October 30, 2017, Adult
I5 men and a basketball net. These are men who build things with their hands. Their ages range from 45-55, and they each hold at least one college degree. Their project - hanging new basketball nets on the church’s outdoor backboards. The neighborhood kids use them so the decision to fix them up was easy. New nets were purchased and the date was set. Saturday morning around 8:00. The job will be done in an hour or less. That done, the 5 would head to the hunting lease. Ladders and tools arrived at 8:00, and the adventure began. It didn’t go quite as planned. The first of the two nets took over three hours to hang. Try as they might, it just didn’t work. Eventually with great effort, pulling, and stretching the net was installed – but it didn’t look right. Reaching into the box the nets came in, they found the instructions. A picture quickly showed the net was installed upside down. 45 minutes later the net is down and reinstalled. This is when one man decides to read the instructions. The very first line said, “Installation will require at least two competent adults.” Eventually they stopped laughing and finished. 5 men - 5 hours for a one hour job. I understand the way these men think. Reading instruction before you start, when you know how to do things, is a waste of time. Elaine, on the other hand, is one of those competent adults who reads the instructions before starting. It took her several years, and a few of my spectacular redo’s, to help me understand the value of this. My gut reaction - “don’t waste the time go for it”, while her gentle smile encourages me to read. Moral – It is good to be married to a competent adult. |