What do a broken washing machine, two Ikea loft beds, and Jane Goodall have in common?
Each required using common tools to solve a stressful problem.
Let’s start first with the washing machine. I was peacefully chilling in my living room after a very, very long day, only to be disrupted by a menacing beeping sound emanating from our laundry room. The dreaded E18 Error on the display greeted me – signaling that the machine was not draining properly. Previous culprits for the issue involved a bobby pin and a penny. Those were easily addressed. This time, however, the cause was a mass of twisted hair stuck behind the filter – unreachable with my fat fingers or makeshift tools. To bring our repair man out would have easily approached $200. Fortunately, I had seen him fix this issue previously and called him to ask what tool he used. The solution – large needle nose pliers. I was able to borrow a pair and within minutes the problem was fixed.
Assembling anything from Ikea is supposed to be simple. Their instructions don’t even have words, only images. Just an allen wrench and a hundred or so screws and three hours later you’re all set. But what happens when you have to take the loft bed apart? Oh, I’m sorry, I mean two beds apart. And you don’t have instructions? And some of those allen screws are stripped? Initially, I thought borrowing a drill with a hex adapter would speed things up – but the tight spaces and angles meant that it was not quite as useful as hoped. Resigned to using the rudimentary allen wrench I was able to remove most of the pieces. For those stripped screws, I resorted to the hammer. The first bed took three hours to disassemble. The second 45 minutes. The reduced time is the by-product of learning from my mistakes.
In between these two handyman adventures, I watched this documentary on Jane Goodall. If you’re thinking that the connection was her first discovering that chimpanzees used tools, you would be mistaken. While that is true, I am instead referring to her own use of a common – but underutilized – tool in her advocacy work. Listening and working with those you disagree with.
I didn’t realize that Goodall often faced criticism for working with people whose practices she and other animal rights advocates adamantly disagreed with. This included people doing medical research on her beloved chimpanzees. Instead of protesting outside their building with signs, she worked inside those buildings trying to understand their objectives and processes, earning their trust and respect. Then when the time was right she shared with them footage from her own research comparing the living conditions and well-being of her chimpanzees in their natural habitat to those in their labs. This dialogue eventually contributed to NIH and other organizations deciding to stop all research involving chimpanzees. Commenting on the criticism she received, she was incredulous that people would NOT work to understand the motivations of people they disagreed with and build trust with them.
We have so many tools at our disposal. Some rest at the top of our tool box, others buried in the bottom. Even more can be borrowed from friends and neighbors. The challenge rests in not being so overwhelmed by the problems that face us that we can’t figure out which tool to use when.
This Week’s Recommendation: Looking for a little hope, watch Jane Goodall: The Hope. If you’re an animal lover and looking for a little joy – check out Pets, a wonderful and wholesome documentary on Disney about the animals we share our homes with. At the very least take two minutes to watch the trailer. Guaranteed it will put a smile on your face.
Consider sending this email to someone in need of a different tool to get their week going.