I walked into my teenager's room the other day and wasn't sure whether to pat him on the back for his brilliance or slap him upside the head for being so damn lazy! The ingenuitive sluglike being managed to devise a contraption to turn the light switch off from his bed clear across the room (all of 8 ft. maybe!).

Attached to wall and running across the ceiling in a pulley like system was a combination of dental floss wrapped around a handful of strategically placed nails, a ruler providing leverage, a stick perched above the light switch to turn it off and a Masterlock used for a weight attached by his pillows. I'm not sure how he figured out how to make the thing work, but he MacGyver-ed a pretty elaborate mechanism just so he wouldn't have to get up to turn his light off at bedtime.

Should I be proud of his intricate accomplishment or perturbed by his complete and utter laziness?

i'm shocked that a teenager knows how to turn off a light

I say focus on the positive, he obviously put a lot of effort into creating this contraption.

both, tell him to put his energy into more productive goals and not be so lazy,,,

It took more effort to find the nails and get the floss and build the contraption than to just go and flip the switch, that doesn't sound lazy. In an era where most teenagers just sit in front of a video game and press buttons I give him credit for making his little contraption. Maybe someday he'll design and build draw bridges :-)

it doesnt SOUND lazy, but it is


tantamount to picking up trash off the floor to throw it under a vacuum cleaner


takes more physical effort but that eludes the lazy mind because they FOOL themself into thinking they have saved effort

I spent many nights as a teen trying to figure out in my mind how to do just that. I'm so proud of him.

But isn't technology intended to allow us to do things with less effort? Think of a car, an electric can opener, a paper shredder, etc.

I say pat him on the back. That sort of creativity should entitle one to a bit of laziness....!

i spent many nights as a teen trying to figure out how to, oh wait, nevermind. i saw rowbaby post something and i thought this was the sex thread

When in doubt, always choose "slap upside da head" JK

You can be proud!

While you're telling him dental floss doesn't grow on trees LOL

here, here,,

Your son and my son must have went to the same seminar

Be proud of him always for any invention he comes up with...
his brain is working and he's creative, could be worse, could
be out drinking and druggin and not have any brain cells left to
invent anything.

Plus without his creative invention he might just sleep with the light on and that would raise your electric bill! LOL Being unemployed so long everything turns to thoughts of money!

While the effort to design and construct the apparatus surely exceeded the energy required to just go flip the switch, the energy saved in future lighting changes will ultimately prove the project a worthwhile project. Your basic "lose the battle but win the war" scenario.

I bet most inventions came about by someone
trying to save time/effort.
Let us know if he gets a scholarship to MIT.

Well he sounds like a very creative type i would be proud of him it reminds me of me when i was young i went out bought a dimmer switch i remembered how my dad told me how to install the wires and make sure theres a ground wire anyways i shut the power off with a switch we had in the house no 1 was home just me ,it was daytime so i can see from sunlight i installed it and had 2 strings tied around it tight so i can make the light darker or brighter lolll but my dad was kind of amazed i did it right he checked the wires after but my mom was upset cause said i could of been electrocuted i said no dad showed me in past to shut power off so if i were you be proud of him ,as my dad was of me and my mom was too after she saw it ,i loved the dimmer switch i also hooked up a strobe light too 1 time lolll but you should buy your kid them slap your hand light on and off switches that you can install and then you have no nails and strings lollll cheers

Just be proud of him, my boys have blown things up almost given peole heart failure with the explosions that go on.
have ahad to appologize for contraptions they have made that have terrorised people and made them think that they where being hunted with a gun.

Worked out how to unpick locks and make contraptions to open the safe, They have worked out how to get their jobs done with limited movement.
But they cant seem to pick up their clothes.

Your son has a mind of an inventor/engineer, and whether he becomes a success with that mind is partially dependent on your opinion, at least until he escapes.

Get him a clapper for Christmas.