To mash or not to mash

A while back, I had a group of friends over. We were enjoying an evening out on my back porch.
One of my friends grabbed the remote to the T.V. Now this remote is one of those with only limited
buttons - one up/down for the channels, one up/down for the volume and two that control the apps for
online viewing. He first made a comment about how few channels I had. I didn’t reply but I knew what
the problem was. Then he exclaimed, “Wait, that channel wasn’t there a second ago!” Yup, I was going
to have to show a grown man how to use a remote. So much funnage. So, without rolling my eyes back
into my head far enough they could be stuck there permanently, I explained the problem. He was a
button masher. As in, instead of lightly tapping the button on the remote, he was mashing it. Thus,
instead of the T.V. changing one channel at a time, it was jumping 2 or 3 or 4 channels. What was his
response to this? About what you’d expect. He not so carefully tossed the remote aside and went to
the other side of the porch. Fine. Let’s face it. In life there are times mashing things is the best option.
See a cockroach? Yes, mash it. A light touch will not kill that sucker. However, other times you need
to tread lightly. The trick is knowing the difference. The other trick is even knowing there is a difference.
Right now is the moment everyone needs to understand this distinction.