'Just In Case'... 'Oh, That's What That's For!'

'Just In Case'...  'Oh, That's What That's For!'
By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee




I used to buy things in a box, only to get home, have to put it together.  Things bigger, longer... than me!  I always prided myself on being 'mechanically inclined'... in fact, so much that I would 'lord it over' ... Skip.  :)))

I would sit and handle longer things than me, hurt myself... pinch myself, sometimes... I would cry out of frustration... but, I'd hide it from Skip... because he 'thought I was so much!'

Oh... don't forget, I have a lot of pride!  Even if 'I don't know what I'm doing... I have to appear that ... I do!'  You know how it is, don't say... you don't!  :)))

I couldn't help myself.... I would say to him... 'don't be hating... when you got it, you got it!'  :)))  I would laugh, and go to work with such confidence!  I thought I was so clever!  Even when... I was 'figuring out what to do next!'

I would take all out, put like-things in neatly stacked piles all around me, piles of screws, washers, nuts.  Some things would have the letters 'A', 'B', 'C' on them.... supposedly easy to just put with each other... and make something!

I made Skip admire me, for my wonderful ability to 'put things together'... he would ask me, "don't you need the instructions?"  I would reply by saying, "Who me?  Oh no, I never need something to tell me what to do... I 'just know'!  That's 'why' I'm 'mechanically inclined'... I 'just know what to do... naturally!"

I would grin at him, so proud I could do something he couldn't, or didn't really want to do.   Now, I 'know why'.................. 'at this late day, and time'.  Oh yeah, that Skip was the 'smart one'.... he was slick... he'd brag on my 'mechanical ability' to 'get me to do it'!

Yes, that Skip... 'knew what he was doing'.... we all know that when someone brags on us... it's like putting 'that spotlight on us, putting us on a stage... to perform to our best ability!'  Perform... I did!!!

Always with anything we bought in a box... I would always see a booklet, or sheet of paper.  My mind would register that one should read what's on them, but, I never 'had time to'.....

I would push the booklet, paper back into the box... 'just in case' I needed 'to read' them.  At least, they would be safe inside the box... I 'knew I wouldn't need them'... but, at least ... they were safe.  The booklet, or paper always had one word at the top... it said:  Instructions...

I would go get my trusty electric screwdriver, and my old, cheap Dollar Tree 'reading glasses' (yes, the ones that are so big on my face... 'the bigger to see you with, my dear!') ... sit down on the floor in 'the middle of everything'.... look around me to decide 'where' to begin.....

(See... 'now' I could get off this story and have fun writing about those 'big, old reading glasses!  And... tell you how sweet, precious, gentle.... my two closest friends in this world, are ... Ms Nancy, and Mezza... tried to tell me that 'maybe they were a little 'big for my face'!  Tell you how much fun! it was to tell them 'it's all right... I really don't wear glasses!'  Ha!  Fun, reading how they both wanted to tell me me, so... 'if I really wore glasses, I would get something becoming!'  They were just so 'gentle', so as not to hurt my feelings!  Real friends do that... especially when they are women.... I loved them all the more for that!).

Let's get back to my story at hand!  Follow me!  I am mechanically inclined, so... 'that means I can do anything that requires mechanical ability'!  Right?

Visualizing how I wanted somthing to look, be put together... I would choose the pile to start from.  I'd pick up a piece to see what kind of screw I would need... the next thing you know... I had put all together to make either a bookcase, or a cabinet together... not only that... I would have lots of 'good stuff' ... left!  I could put them up for later.... 'in case I needed them'.  Good deal!

Only 'later in time'... I would discover 'the purpose of each of those pieces'.... my mind would think... 'oh, that's what that was for'!

My mind would go back to what I safely stored inside the box... the booklet or piece of paper... I would go look inside, pull the paper out, go sit down... read.  You know... 'after the fact', and 'just for the heck of it'... no sense in not knowing what that paper was for, too.

Oh-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... mmmm-mmm.... okay, I 'see now'... that's 'what I should have done!'... Oh-hhhh, okay.... 'that's what this paper is for!'  

Then... I'd read the title at the top... 'Instructions'.... I'd think to myself as I looked, actually read the instructions.... 'but, I knew that... common sense tells me'.....

My eyes would stop, stare at something to do with 'all the extra pieces I'd have left over'... oh my!  'Oh, that's what that is for!'

Then, I would think... if I'd read this 'first', I would have known what those pieces were for... instead, I had shoved the paper back into the box with this thought... I'm putting it back in the box to be safe, to come back to... just in case!

Big Secret:  I'm going to have to say this... :)))  Everything I ever put together... stayed together, all sturdy... and sound!  :))) Just saying.................................................................................................................................