“Our company asks prospective employees to fill out a written application,” a man wrote in the Readers Digest. “One question said: In one word, describe your greatest strength. This woman applicant wrote: I’m always faithful to read the directions first.”
Recently, Bertha and I voted at the church a few blocks from our house. As you sign in, the poll workers give you a paper ballot. Since only two races were left for the runoff, the page was mostly empty. At the top were these instructions: “Using black ink, fill in the oval circle beside the name of the candidate for whom you are voting.” You were given a closed space to mark your ballot, which you then handed to a clerk who fed the paper into the voting tabulator. Mine went through fine. Bertha’s was spit back out. The clerk looked at it, smiled at her, and said, “Ma’am, you put a checkmark by the candidate’s name. You’re supposed to fill in the oval.” She laughed, was slightly embarrassed, they gave her another ballot, and she got it right this time.
On the way to the car, I said to my schoolteacher/wife: “Honey, do you tell the students to read the directions before they take their test?” She gave me that look.
On the drive home I said to her, “I’ve not changed the clock in this car since we went on Daylight Savings Time. The truth is I’ve forgotten how to do it. I’ve had the car a whole year now, so I know I’ve done it before. But I don’t recall how.”