Maybe everybody isnâ??t cut out to be a power user

by Jeff Davis | Jun 01, 1999 7:00:00 AM

Tags: Jeff Davis

Takeaway: A TechRepublic passport member shares a story about training in the Bizarro World.

Have you ever felt like you were teaching in the Twilight Zone? (Or the Bizarro World, for you Superman fans.) TechRepublic passport member Buz Lamson submitted this story:

“I was teaching a Lotus 1-2-3 class. I often would say, ‘Press the arrow to the right to select the range menu, and press enter.’ I wanted them to see that the next menu was displayed under the current menu as they moved the arrow key. I realized one day that almost every time I said 'arrow right,' most of the students pressed the Left arrow key. After several times I was finding it hard to get the group to the same menu. I then decided to just say the opposite of what I wanted. So, if I needed them to move to the right, I said, 'Press the arrow left to format.' Believe it or not, it worked. Now these were not children—they were adults. I guess that says a lot about our public school system.�

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