Spent 45 minutes trying to fix a cracked phone mount at the cafe...

I was all set up at this spot in Denver and my phone mount just snapped mid-call. Took me way too long to realize I could've just used my coffee cup as a wedge to hold it steady. Anyone else ever MacGyver something weird at their workspace?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_michael1mo ago

Honestly, I think this happens because we're trained to look for the "right" fix first, when the ugly fix is usually sitting right there. I've caught myself doing this with a wobbly table at a coffee shop-I spent ten minutes looking for a napkin to fold under it, but I had a half-empty water bottle I could've just set on the corner. The bigger pattern is how we overthink simple problems when we're stressed or busy, and we forget that most everyday fixes are just about wedging, stacking, or balancing something obvious. It's like we all have this mental block that says the solution has to be store-bought or planned. But half the time, it's just coffee cups and random junk that do the job better than the actual tool would.

leet321mo ago

Funny you say that about overthinking, @the_michael. Last week I was at that same Denver cafe and my laptop stand gave out. Dug through my bag for twenty minutes looking for a book or something to prop it up. Then the barista handed me my change and a stack of those cardboard coasters. Three of those under one corner and it was rock solid for two hours. Made me feel like an idiot for not just grabbing something off the counter first. But you're right, we get locked into thinking the fix has to be something we brought with us. Half the time the answer's just sitting there in plain sight.