My dad had told me to cut up some tree limbs and stack them in a pile. I got out the handsaw and got onto my knees and started to saw the limbs. Dad stopped me and said I needed to get the sawhorses out of the garage and lay the limbs across the horses so I wouldn’t have to work on my knees. I knew that made sense, but I have to admit that I hated to take the time to set up those horses. I just wanted to get done as fast as I could and go do something other than work. Looking back, I am sure that the job probably got done faster using the sawhorses, plus it was much easier on my knees.
I can still remember my mother getting a bowl of water and laying newspapers on the kitchen table where she would sit and peel potatoes. At the time I never even thought about why she just didn’t stand at the sink, but now looking back I am sure it was to save her back from leaning over the sink. In the Midwest we ate potatoes at every meal, and I can’t imagine how many potatoes she peeled over the years. This was definitely an ergonomics problem that she had recognized and corrected.