I started a new page on the website today that will list various instructions, usually of the computer oriented variety. Right now there is one, (Yowza!) Printing labels from Mac’s Address Book.

For some people this process is old hat, for some an intuitive find on their own. I feel it is worth making available, though, because for some it just isn’t all that easy or intuitive.

When contemplating whether to mention it or not, I thought of our individual sensitivities.–let me explain that the instructions page was primarily created for my clients’ benefit. I’ve had two clients ask about this capability in the last couple of weeks so I thought if I had it online in a printable version, I could simply send them a link or print it out before going to an appointment.

For example, when watering a houseplant today, I noticed that the leaves were bizarrely sticky. Hmmm, the fern I replanted last night that had lost all of its leaves (and which turned out to be root bound) had become really sticky as well. Is a sticky leaf state a sign of a root bound plant? I’ll investigate tomorrow by replanting the newly discovered sticky plant.

Point being that my sensitivity to plant communication is somewhat low. Someone else could come along and say, Yes, sticky leaves mean root bound or No, sticky leaves mean _____. And it would be totally obvious to them and they’d wonder how in the world I hadn’t figured that one out yet.

That same someone could make me feel like a dummy, or they could simply affirm/discredit my hypothesis. As I don’t particularly appreciate feeling a dummy, I’d go for option #2.

So if printing labels, or whatever instructions end up listed on the new page, seems like simple info, I say, better to spell it out than encourage dummy-hood.