Field Notes on Reading Instructions Later
The instructions are in the box. The box is next to the thing being assembled. The assembly has begun anyway.
FIELD NOTE 1: The Setup
The item arrived with instructions. The instructions were placed where they could be accessed. Access was not immediately initiated. Assembly began.
This sequence is consistent across product categories. The instructions represent the manufacturer's recommended assembly path. The person beginning assembly represents a person who believes their spatial reasoning is adequate for a first pass, or who prefers to develop their own model before allowing the official model to replace it, or who finds instructions difficult to read in advance of having the parts in hand.
All three are reasonable positions. All three arrive at the instructions at approximately the same point: when something does not fit.
FIELD NOTE 2: The Consultation Point
Instructions are most often consulted when:
(a) A component relationship is not obvious. (b) A piece exists whose purpose is not determinable from the parts laid out. (c) Something that should fit does not fit. (d) Something was assembled that now needs to be disassembled to accommodate a piece not yet installed.
Condition (d) is the most expensive consultation: it requires reversal of completed work. It is also the most instructive, because it produces a specific page number and paragraph that becomes memorable for all subsequent similar assemblies.
FIELD NOTE 3: The Two Screws Left Over
Two screws were left over after assembly. This is noted for the record.
The instructions were consulted retroactively. The two screws are spares, included by the manufacturer for the case where a screw is dropped and lost. This is documented on page seven.
The assembly is complete. The item is stable. The instructions were used at three critical points. All other points were resolved without them.
The instructions are going in the box. The box is going under the bed, with the item from February.