My neighbor offered to 'help' me build my desk and it took 4 hours longer

I was putting together an Ikea desk last Saturday and my retired neighbor Bob came over to 'supervise' and give unsolicited advice. He kept telling me I was holding the Allen wrench wrong and then tried to grab it out of my hand twice. Has anyone else had a friendly helper who made their build way more stressful than it needed to be?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_robin2d ago

My go-to move is to put in earbuds and say "I'm following a youtube tutorial" before they even get started. Bob sounds like a classic overbearing helper, I've learned to politely say "I've got this, but thanks for checking in" while keeping my tools right where they are. Hopefully next time you can set a time limit or just work in your garage with the door half closed.

dylan_ward2d ago

Ikea desks never take 4 hours, even with help.

wells.evan2d ago

Honestly Bob made me rethink my whole approach, @the_robin is right about setting boundaries early.