I’ll bet you’ve done this before: You see a potential risk of doing something a certain way, and recognize the potential bad result. You do it anyway.

Sometimes the potential bad result means remaking a component, like wondering if a screw is too long and realizing that if it is, the potential outcome is literal: the screw may come out the other side. Thinking, nah, it’ll be fine, you do it anyway and prove yourself right when the screw comes out the other side.

Other times the potential bad result means looking for a Band-Aid. Yesterday I was placing a recalcitrant screw at an odd angle in a difficult-to-access spot. Even a regular-sized screwdriver wouldn’t fit in the tight quarters, much less my smallest drill/driver, so I was using one of my shorty screwdrivers in an odd position requiring dexterous handwork gymnastics I’m far too clumsy to attempt.

I thought to myself, “Self, if that screwdriver slips, you’re gonna poke your other hand like a knucklehead and scream like a little girl.” I did it anyway. I screamed like a little girl.

The damage wasn’t bad – certainly not worthy of little-girl screams – but knowing that I realized even before I did it what the probable outcome would be was more painful. A minor bloody screwdriver poke was nothing compared to my injured ego.

Unfortunately, they don’t make a Band-Aid for that.

A.J.