I recently wrote about my favorite “there’s no way that’s possible” commercials. I have a new favorite. A clear winner in the “how stupid do you think we are” category. Have you seen the new 7 passenger Jeep? Kids are looking at and excitedly talking about their favorite shark as if they were at an aquarium. It turns out they are in the back seat of the Jeep with these built in sky lights. The commercial ends with the Jeep appearing to drive up onto a sandy beach from the depths of the ocean. And there it is. At the bottom of the screen are these words: “Not intended for underwater use.” Because that’s the first thing I was going to do.
I hope your weekend assemblies went better than ours. Our assembly was ok, our tech stuff was unbearable. Our computer was inhabitated by some foul demon of technology. I felt sorry for our operators. They looked like they were ready to leap from the balcony. Either that or throw the computer from the balcony. Among other things the fonts went wacko and our title slides and transition slides kept proclaiming “Arlington Church of Chris” in brilliant color.
Let me offer some advice that most of you probably already know. In those situations don’t embarass the people working the computer (or the sound board). It may or may not have been their fault. In this case it was not their fault. The last thing you want to do, by your actions, is to deflect the attention from the computer to them. They are volunteers and will refuse to help again. This is something that I’ve had to learn with great patience. The best way to deal with it, I think, is to laugh about it and move on. Much like budget meetings.
