I was 50 years old when I was taught how to properly drive a screw into a piece of wood. At the time, I was working with my neighbor and his friend, who generously offered to help me rig out my trailer with solar panels, wiring, switches and gauges.
Being the least skilled person on the work crew, I did my best to contribute and not stand around looking like an idiot. After all, I had a full set of tools. I’m a smart guy. I’d been a homeowner for 25 years and had done plenty of DIY projects and repairs.
We were building a wooden box to hold the batteries. My partner held the boards together while I drove the screws in using my trusty Ryobi cordless drill. I did it the way I knew how – by placing the screw, then pushing hard with the drill while it drove the screw.
My partner said, “Don’t push it, let the threads pull it in. It will hold better that way.“
I had no idea that was how it worked.
I’d driven in thousands if screws in my lifetime. If asked, I would have said I was pretty good at it.
I wasn’t.
All it took was a kind man to gently offer a word of advice to fix 4 decades of doing it wrong.
I wonder how many other things I’ve been doing the hard way my entire life.
I can’t even remember this guy’s name. All I know is that he was a friend of my neighbor. When my neighbor realized we needed another skilled worker to finish the job in time, he called his friend and the man showed up. No complaints. No charge. No nothing.
He suited up, showed up and helped.
He will never know how much I appreciated that. Or how much I needed it.