Seeing it their way

[028] ... [General]

Some are born to lead, most to just follow, a few to change the world, and of the many types that exist, there are some who always kick-up a racket, and a slightly diluted form of such who never get anything right, surprising us with their ways on "how could they?". Thankfully such are often the quiet type and don't seem to take criticism harshly, and sometimes their oddities prove helpful as workable solutions to the otherwise accepted problems.

A previous post Passing Phases mentioned a classmate who decorated her homework with large-rounded periods after each word to make it look pretty. We had one similar at the office messing up even the simplest. A Monday morning had us facing the all too furious owner and others in our office building. Reason: we had emptied the large overhead water tank over the weekend that would have served for two days. Surprised since we were all closed, the allegation seemed correct since the timid girl had left the washbasin tap open since Friday evening. Reason: there was no running water at the time, and it hardly mattered if kept open!

The owner, in addition to the mortice lock, had fixed an old fashioned Al-drop on the double-leafed entrance door. The kind with a latch or thick movable rod on one side that's pushed to the ring on the other, and the broad handle welded to the moving rod, with a narrow slit gets pushed to a ring behind to accommodate the padlock. One problem with such is you can get locked-in when anyone pushes the latch from outside, for mischief or unintentionally. The padlock was always kept locked behind the handle for ready access. There was a day when the timid one was required to come early to open the office and finish pending work, and was duly explained on the lock and keys. She did come early and did the required, but when seeing the position she had hung the padlock, on the other side, everyone burst out laughing. Not for the odd way, but for the Eureka moment that solved a problem. With the padlock hanging from the opposite ring, there was no way the latch could be pushed from outside! It was a blessing in disguise no doubt to discover what no one had thought of.

There are many such we come across in life who do things the other way. Like an elderly friend who is always having problems with his smartphone. He always uses the thick middle finger to touch the screen with an open palm, resulting in some other finger touching the screen elsewhere to trigger something else than intended. No amount of explaining to practice using the index finger like everyone else with the palm closed has had any effect and the agony continues, and with the palm covering all other buttons on the keyboard he hardly can make out what he is typing. So much of diversity in people's ways and thinking...