Good morning, and happy Hump Day! I hope your day is off to a great start.
For somebody who has spent his entire life working around computers and high-tech systems, and writing more than more than 20,000 pages of detailed text on how those systems work, I’m a complete moron when it comes to the systems I use at home. I know how to turn the TV on (most times), I can change a channel (I’m that good), and I can log onto the internet. That’s it.
If you thought I was making this up, my wife would quickly step in and set you straight. She uses features on her phone I didn’t even know mine has. She’s even better than the grandkids, and that’s saying a lot. They’re not allowed to play with my phone because, unless they take it back to the home screen, I might as well toss it in the trash. It’ll never work again – until they fix it.
Most times, it’s not an issue. Unless I want to change the TV from Roku back to cable or watch a movie on the Blu-Ray player. We have four remotes for the TV and associated gadgets, and they work like the combination lock at Fort Knox. Everything has to be done in just the right order, or the TV screen goes blank with a flashing message that says, “Let the kids give it a try.”
I’m trying to get mobile internet in the RV, and I would learn just as much by reading the page in Mandarin. Basically, here’s what I’ve been able to figure out:
- It’ll cost more than my house and RV payment combined.
- I can use high-speed internet for 16 minutes.
- After 16 minutes, it switches to smoke-signals.
- If I want an additional 16 minutes, the price quadruples.
- The equipment won’t be available until sometime next year.
- I’ll get kicked off the internet every time it rains.
- If we watch TV, we’ll run out of data on the first commercial.
Exaggeration, you say? Then we’re not reading the same contract. And I know if I walk into the Mobile Internet for Dummies Store, they’ll take one look at me and start planning their vacation to Tahiti. There’s a reason I don’t talk to automotive mechanics. Anything I say can and will be used against me in the final repair estimate. I didn’t even know my car had a fragistat.
We all like to think we’re pretty knowledgeable, and I believe most of us know a little more than we think. Except my oldest grandson. He still needs to come down a notch or two, but that goes with the territory. I always said technical writing is about knowing what you don’t know. Seems to me a few other people could take a page out of that book as well.
You see it in business a lot. Walls go up the moment you start talking to some people. They’re one step ahead of you. They know exactly where you’re headed, and it’s not anyplace they want to go. They’ve never tried what you’re suggesting, but they have a dozen reasons it won’t work. Why? Because they didn’t think of it first.
There is a story about a truck that got stuck under a bridge. A dozen people tried everything imaginable, and it wouldn’t budge. If only they could raise the bridge one inch. A little boy kept trying to make a suggestion, but nobody would listen. Finally, just to shut him up, the driver asked, “What’s your brilliant idea, genius?” He replied, “Let some air out of the tires.”
Sometimes we need to trust our knowledge and know that it’s enough. Other times we need to state an opinion and listen to the responses. And sometimes, we need to just be quiet and listen. If I want to learn to fly, I’m not going in there to tell the instructor how it’s done. He’s done this hundreds of times. He may know just a little more about it than I do.
If there’s something you want to teach, speak. But if there’s something you need to learn, listen. Learn from those who are have done the things you want to do. Listen to those who have gone before you. And hold your opinion until you know enough to speak. Remember these words – tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!
© 2020 Dave Glardon – All rights reserved
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Dave Glardon 