When in Doubt, Follow These Directions
So we had a group in Science Lab. They were trying really hard and having a great time. But then they got stuck and here is what we heard: "What did she say we were supposed to do?" "Get out however we can, I think." "So let's pull this out of the wall." Now that helped them open a locked cabinet, but here is the problem (Besides them breaking our room). Now they had all of these clues that were there to help them open the cabinet the right way - but they did not know what to do with them. They spent the rest of the hour trying to use clues that were now useless. What they had been told to do was NOT to break things or pull things out of the wall. They did not listen - and they did not get out.
Sometimes, people really do want to smooth out the bumps in the road, pass the baton, permit others to walk down a trail that has already been blazed. Why do some people just refuse to follow the directions? Is it a mistrust of authority, a general contrariness, an impetuous streak, or that daring individual who calls his or herself an "iconoclast," somebody who just has to be a rebel?
There are so many places that we find directions. Let's start with a cake mix, a new car, installing software. I get it. There is so much to do in life, but impetuosity, while tolerated with toddlers, is not a hit once you get big enough to brush your teeth without a step stool. Discipline has many payoffs in life, and the first step to completing the task is not just understanding the goal, but also understanding the road, the path, the route, the highway. You can't create the shortcut unless you know the destination and the "usual way" of doing things.
So what are directions really for anyway? Some, people, are there to make your life easier, and not to torture you, delay you, distract you or impede your quest for greatness. Directions, more likely than not, are to help you out. Directions are intended to help guide you to the safest, most effective manner of achieving your goal.
Now, with respect to escape rooms, directions serve an even more important purpose. The directions provide critical clues to HELP YOU GET OUT. So please read these directions:
“Re-read the directions.”
Repeat.
And maybe, just maybe, your approach to these SoHL Escape Room directions has you re-evaluating your approach to those unread directions in your desktop drawer.
Answer Key: Before you bushwack consider the road most traveled.
