I have to laugh at your description, ebbie. I had forgotten that, but had seen in many times. Trying to describe the simplest of acts in writing is very challenging. When my sons were in school they had assignments to write directions on how to ride a bicycle, or tie your shoe laces. When my youngest son, Aaron moved out to Illinois, he'd never tied a tie. On the rare occasion that he had to tie one when he was home, I'd tie it for him. My Father was the same way. He wore bib overalls most of his life, and a tie would have looked out of place. When he got new ties, I'd tie them for him. Never mind that I lived a thousand miles away and only got home a couple of times a year. He didn't wear ties that often. Once they were tied, he'd loosen them up just enough to slip them over his head, and then hang them up that way, ready to slip back over his head and tighten, the next time he needed to wear a tie.

Anyway, I wrote directions on how to tie a tie for my son, and asked some of friends to follow them, word for word to see if it worked. It did, by golly! I mailed them off to Aaron, and that's how he learned to tie a tie by himself.

Jerry