Don't do that! - A Bruce story

I forget what he was working on. A picture? A layout? Anyway, it was on the computer. I was summoned to help him with this problem he was having. A simple "I'm trying to do X but can't quite do it." So I ask him to show me what he's doing. He spends several minutes (at least 5) going through a series of steps necessary to do what he needs. Then he does something he shouldn't and ruins what he's been doing. It's just too much for "undo" to fix.

"OK, I see what the problem is. That thing you're doing at the end? Don't."

Obviously, I was a bit clearer than this. What he needed to do involved a menu item at the top of the screen. I remember what he was actually doing involved the keyboard.

So, he runs through the routine again. The whole routine. The thing that fucks up. He does that, too.

"Alright, Bruce, you saw what happened. You did that thing I said messed things up. You've done it six times before I came over. Don't do that. You need to do Y instead."

I prefer to make him do it. If I do it he doesn't learn. If he does the driving then he shouldn't need me next time. So he does the work while I watch.

He does it all again. Repeat another eight times.

I make him go through one. step. at. a. time. with me giving instructions at each step. When we get to the part that goes bad I tell him what he should be doing. He does the other thing, instead.

I've been there for nigh an hour, watching him ruin his file over and over again in an identical way each time. I even took over, showed him what he should be doing, and gave it back to him so he could do it. He still does it wrong.

One last time we go through from the beginning. We reach the last step and I see his right hand leave the mouse and begin to travel across the keyboard to the disaster button. It's like it's going in slow motion. What also happened in slow motion was me throwing myself in front of him and snatching the keyboard away.

"STOP! For the love of god, Bruce! Stop doing that! You know you're not supposed to do that."

"Yeah."

"Then why do you keep doing it? That's what has screwed up your picture every time. That's what has stolen the last hour from our lives. JUST DON'T!
"Now, I'm keeping the keyboard. Put your hand BACK on the mouse. Go right where I'm pointing. NO! That's not where I'm pointing. Anything that isn't right where I'm pointing is wrong. Go. Here."

He did. He clicked on the menu I was pointing at. He went to the option that I named. He clicked. It worked. I gave him his keyboard back and we saved.