On Reversing

When you have a trailor, or like us a device that needs to be precisionaly reversed onto the bakkie, it is imperative that both driver and person directing use the same terminology. When she shouts left and it is in fact your right but you give her the benefit and go left only to find you are wrong because she is always right – get the point. On a boat it is easy as you can’t mix up port and starboard but as we are not all nautical this better but not the solution. When the guys take over it’s a case of someone shouting left hand down or right hand down but that is also not great as it places total responsibility in the hands of the person directing which means that the wife will have no one to blame when it is a cock up. Our new convention will be for Sue to shout “passenger” or “driver” – that way I know to turn toward the relevant side. I can gauge the amount of turn required by the level of hysterics that only a husband understands and she can still blame me when it all goes wrong.