Moving large objects, people being difficult?

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For whatever reason I always end up having to help people move large objects like couches and desks and every time it's the same thing. People expecting you to somehow be in sync with what they want to do/are doing, giving cryptic instructions ie "hold it from the bottom", which bottom? The bottom from where we have it placed or the bottom from where it would usually go? Anyone else deal with this?

Last edited by PaperMajora on 09 Oct 2017, 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Every. Single. Time.

Perhaps it is better to try to imitate the other porters, although those above and below on a stair need different techniques. I more often been the instigator of moves, and have developed a feel for the problem by moving as much as possible myself. My observation is that it is amazingly easy to direct an ad-hoc crew with swift jerks of the head in the desired direction.
When something is being carried, you are only needed to support it. The lateral forces are easy for a single foreman to produce. Sometimes, I use only my fingertips, the better to avoid unwanted pushing.

Sorry I just had to do this:

"PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVUUUUUUUHHHHHHTTTTT!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5DHU8SwYJ0

[img]<iframe%20width="560"%20height="315"%20src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w5DHU8SwYJ0"%20frameborder="0"%20allowfullscreen></iframe>[/img]

When people say "give me that over there" (my uncle said that to me when I was a teen helping him build a house), I was puzzled. There were several items to where he was pointing to. My Uncle was an undiagnosed Aspie and possibly a sociopath/psychopath like my Dad. He got mad at me because I didn't see what he saw.

Some helpers can understand such requests by context. If someone is at the stage of a job where they need a tool or chunk of material, that narrows the possibilities. Perhaps you can start walking in "that" direction and suggesting objects as you see them, with as much pre-selection as possible.

OTOH, I have a helper who is terrible at descriptions, so I sometimes walk him through it until he has finally provided the necessary details. His drawings are done with multiple perspectives in one, but sometimes he can get in right in a lesson. I may have to set him to free-hand drawing parallel lines for a few days for basic practice, though.

The worst is when you get selected to lead the object to whatever coordinates the other person has in mind.

...and when someone tells you to get the "thing" off the table, and there are 3 tables in the room and they referred to the "thing" by a vague/incorrect term.