Did you try rebooting?

We can feel frustrated when someone tries to help by asking something obvious.

“Are you sure that’s the right password?”
“Are those the right parts?”
“Did you double-check your ticket?”

They ask for a simple reason: we often overlook the obvious.

When we’re close to a problem — and eager to fix it — we can easily skip the simplest checks.

So when we hit minor roadblocks, it’s worth pausing to ask:

Have I checked the obvious?