who needs instructions?

As the last post describes, I recently purchased a new baby. Now, seeing as this is my baby, I was tempted to purchase an anti-theft system involving flame throwers and darts that would ensure that if anyone tried to steal even the most minute of parts, it would leave such an impression that no one would ever think of going near the ‘pyscho black CRV of Dar’ again. And yes, they do make anti-theft systems with flame throwers- legal in good ‘ol South Africa, but for rather obvious reasons illegal in the US. So I purchased a standard system with a wonderfully loud alarm and a switch that disables the battery if anyone tries to override the system.

So on Saturday the mechanic arrived with an electrician and I handed the box over to them and showed them the installation guide. The electrician looked through the installation guide and then asked for the instructions. I told him that those were the instructions and showed him the page with the diagram for the wires. He looked surprised, looked and the mechanic, shook his head and said something in Kiswahili and then put the instructions down. He then pulled the facing off under the steering wheel and started cutting wires. Two thoughts crossed my mind: 1- that he was good enough that he didn’t need instructions, and 2- that my car was never going to start again.

Not to ruin the story, but neither ended up being true. My baby does start. But there were a few rather hairy moments- it took an awful long time for him to find the wire that controlled the door locks. And in the process he cut at least 4 wires and reattached them to each other, smiling sheepishly at me each time he realized that he had cut the wrong wire. He would also occasionally grab the diagram and look at it for a few seconds. Though I think his glances at the diagram were more to give me confidence in him than to actually serve as a guide for him, since he didn't seem to mind if he was reading it upside down or not. (Which, needless to say, did not exactly scream "relax, your car is going to turn on again with a functioning security system".)

But the reason that I am describing this rather traumatic experience in my baby's life, is to describe how completely African the event was.

The process for arriving at a result is very different here in than in the states. In the states there are always instructions and a clearly defined path to get from A to B. Here you use your brain and figure out how to get something done. Granted, this involves a lot of trial and error, a lot more time, and backtracking when you go down te wrong path (e.g. reattaching the wires to each other). But I have to say, as someone that would much rather put something together on my own by playing with it than by using instructions, I find this way refreshing. Because as scary as it was to watch the electrician cut and reattach wires, it was reassuring knowing that he actually knew what he was doing.

Note: this method should probably not apply to any heart or brain surgeries. And I think its track record with chandeliers (cough cough dad cough) has also been shown to be dubious.