Out of Sight - Out of my Mind

Many thanks to my sister for reminding me to share one of the most classic Hans stories of all time.

Hans is a computer guy. He is also a hoarder, messer, leave things all over the place-er.

When we lived in our first apartment, we would go many rounds about the cords, hard drives and memory sticks that covered every surface of our house. The kitchen table, the counter, the coffee table, the sofa- literally everything.

One day, I handed Hans some computer thing that had been sitting on the kitchen table for over a week. I didn't know what it was all I knew was that I had seen it enough and it needed to go someplace else. I handed it to him and said,

"Please go put this away, right now."

Keep in mind that this was a tiny apartment, you could walk from one end to the other in less than 20 steps, so putting it away, really would take about 11 seconds.

I turned around and started washing dishes. My sister was visiting so I wasn't really paying attention to what Hans was doing. After I finished washing the dishes, I realized I was out of paper towels, so I went to the pantry and got on my tippy toes to reach a new roll. As i pulled it down, the computer part I had just asked Hans to put away, fell off the shelf and landed on the floor.

Why had Hans put it there? Why didn't he just walk the extra 4 steps and ACTUALLY PUT IT AWAY?

I called him in the room and presented the mess of circuits and screws that had nearly just taken my eye out and asked,

"WHY?"

"I thought you wouldn't see it there because you are so short."

HE WAS SERIOUS.