Many Hands Make Light Work

Many hands make light work. The more people who are helping you, the faster and easier the task is. For many projects, this is true. Not every project is easier with more people; for instance, watchmaking is very delicate work done in a small space. More helpers would make it harder. But for large tasks such as yard work, cleaning up a lot of toys, or cleaning up at a camp, more people means lighter work.

Yard work involves clearing large patches of ground. For one person, it is quite a job to pick up all of the sticks and rake all of the leaves on an acre of land, or even half an acre. With a helper, the work is much easier. With five or six friends, the job won’t seem like much work at all. When I did yard work as part of 4-H community service, our club got together and went to a house that needed help clearing a large yard of branches and leaves or weeding a garden. We would spend several hours and have fun while helping. Having that many people made it a lot easier.


If you have ever been in charge of a group of preschoolers, you know they can make quite a mess with toys strewn everywhere. One preschooler can actually create the same amount of chaos, but that one child will have more difficulty cleaning it up. When you get a group of preschoolers to clean up together, the mess doesn’t seem as overwhelming to them and they will pitch in to help restore order. It will also get done a lot faster. Having more of them changes everything.


My youth group occasionally sends out teams of ten to twelve teenagers to go help do the dishes for a weekend at a local retreat center. When there isn’t a team to go, the councilors for that retreat have to do it themselves. They would agree that more hands makes easier and faster work. For a group of five or six people, the dishes for one to three hundred people are a lot of work. But for twelve or fourteen, it is much easier. We could finish cleaning up all of the dishes, wiping down the tables, and sweeping up within two hours or so. The extra hands made a difference.


This old adage is true for many tasks. Not every job is easier with more hands, but in general this is true. Many hands make light work for yard work, cleaning up toys, and doing a lot of dishes, among other things. The more people you have, the faster and easier it will be to do the work.

Computer Literate

We live in the age of computers. They are everywhere, from workplaces to homes. People use these powerful tools daily. But how many people are actually familiar with them? Computer familiarity means being able to communicate using a computer and being able to store information with a computer. A person who is familiar with a computer should also be able to do these things safely.

Computers allow people to communicate in a variety of ways. Emails are direct, and they work well for talking between two or three people. People use emails to keep friends and family updated or to send information at work. Websites allow people to talk with multiple people more easily. Some websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, offer direct messages. They make group communication simpler, because the whole group can see what each person said. Messages are also faster than emails. Forums are a way of talking with people who share an interest, such as computers or medieval fantasy. They give people a place to discuss hints, the latest model, and ask questions. Computers provide access to all of this.

Computers store information. People store documents, such as essays, stories, and instructions, to name a few. Since people can create as many folders as they need, documents can be filed away into categories for easy reference. People also store pictures. Storing pictures digitally is cheaper and easier than printing them out and putting them in an album. Some people also use a computer to prune through their pictures and decide which ones to print. Another thing people store on computers is music. Computers have a lot of storage space, and they can hold more music than a regular phone or iPod.

Computers need to be used safely, like any other tool. Passwords should be strong, such as a line from a poem or a memorable phrase. They should be written down in a secure place that only the creator knows about. Having a password for the Administrator account that the whole family knows means that children can install whatever they want on the computer. This leads to malware and viruses getting installed. A hacked bank account causes a lot of trouble, and a hacked Facebook account is bad, too. That compromised account can be mined for information about the account owner, their friends, and groups the owner belongs to. A stolen password for Facebook can be used for anything from simple mischief to job loss.

Secure habits, such as logging out of websites and locking the computer, keep information safer. Staying logged into a website lets anyone who gains access to your computer also gain access to all the accounts on those websites. Leaving the computer open compounds the problem. Not only can people access the Web from there, they can cause all sorts of mischief on the computer itself. An unlocked Administrator computer account means that whoever comes over there can install or uninstall anything they want to on that computer. Any account that gets left opened on an unlocked computer can access files and pictures for any other account. They can delete or copy those files easily.

People can copy posts or screenshot them; they can easily spread a post beyond the friends of the poster. What is posted on Facebook may not stay there. Choose wisely what gets posted, so that if it does get copied no one will embarrassed or endangered. Once a post is out there, it never truly goes away. Some people receive all posts from a person or their feed in emails, and those emails don’t get deleted when the post does. Google Hangouts messages can’t be edited or deleted after sending. Anyone who has access to the account can download them.

A computer is a versatile tool that, used safely, can enrich our lives. Communication and data storage are easier than ever before. With computers, the average person has more power than an emperor in the days of Rome—instantly access information or message a friend with the click of a mouse.

Get that Flag

A bullet whizzed over Leah’s head and struck the tree behind her. They found me. Oops. She dashed to the next tree and fired at a couple of enemy soldiers. Behind the tree Leah had just deserted, Jasmine crouched with a sniper rifle. “”Leah!” she whispered fiercely. “They hit Dominic. Margret got him back to base, but he’ll be out for a while.”

“If we aren’t careful, it’ll be over before he gets back.” Leah cocked her rifle and fired at a head poked around a bush. “Got him! Just his hand, but still.” The medic came over and wrapped up the injured limb.

While they were busy watching one side, trouble was brewing on the other. Two enemy soldiers charged the two other defenders. One began firing rapidly and barely missed Mason. “Jasmine!” he yelled. Startled, she swung around just in time to see him peg one. She shot at the other, but missed when he ducked.

Leah spotted the enemy flag left seemingly unguarded. Jumping up, she ran for it and actually touched the pole before a bullet struck her. They just got my hand. She set hand to it again, but she was shot in the back and fell.

“No, Leah!” shouted Dominic. Jasmine, about to cry out herself, was a little startled by his vehemence. She shook herself, however, and fended off the attackers. Mason and Alana came up.

“We need to get Leah back to our base,” said Alana.

“Can’t risk losing someone else,” Mason said.

“I’ll pick off a couple of them first. That should help.”

“Got it,” said Jasmine. “Besides, Dominic will be back in a minute.”

As she spoke, he joined them. “What happened to them?” pointing to the other side. Alana took one look and crouched behind a tree.
“They are reloading. We’re out of time!”

“Hold on, now,” Jasmine said. “Alana, you snipe at them, maybe from a tree or somewhere unexpected. Mason, you and I will pin them down. Dominic, get the flag.”

“What about Leah?” he asked. “They still have all of their troops.”

Jasmine looked over at the prison where a medic was tending to Leah. “If you see a good opening. But try to get the flag!”

All three nodded agreement and took up their positions. Margret, their medic, came closer so that she could assist the wounded more quickly.

“On three,” Jasmine whispered. “One, two -”

Yelling at the top of his lungs, one of the enemy charged their camp. Alana, halfway up a tree, fired and missed. The attack was completely unexpected. Mason ran after him. Just as the soldier reached the flag, Mason caught up and shot him point-blank.

“What was the point of that?” he demanded.

The soldier grinned. “There wasn’t one.”

“Whatever. Medic!”

Margret ran over. “He’s hurt. Could you take him to prison once he can walk?” She nodded and Mason turned his attention back to the front.

“Guys!” Leah shouted from across the battlefield. “That was just a distraction! Look out to the left!”

“Quiet!” growled her guard.

Alana, heeding the warning, spotted two of the enemy creeping in. She fired twice, taking careful aim. One was hit in the head. The other dodged.

“Jasmine! Mason!” Alana called out. Jasmine spun around and nearly shot the second, but missed. He grabbed the flag and ran back. Just before he crossed the line, Alana got his arm. He dropped the flag. Jasmine ran over and picked it up. “Dominic, go!” she hissed. He dashed from tree to tree while Mason laid down covering fire. As he reached for the flag, Jasmine and Mason yelled and charged. The defenders, not expecting this new onslaught, fired wildly. Dominic’s hand was wounded, so Jasmine seized the flag and raced off. He ran over to Leah, whose guard was chasing Mason and Jasmine, and freed her. They got back just in time to see Jasmine triumphantly lay the enemy flag before their own.
“Good game, guys!” called Sadie. She was panting hard.

“Good game!” Leah and Jasmine called back.

“I say we play with real guns next time,” said Drake. “That would add more spice than just using Nerf.”