The Top 15 Questions Lego Builders Hate (Part 2)

More of the things a Lego builder hates to hear.

#6: "Did you build all that yourself?"

 It's worth noting that this question usually is meant to be asking the questions in either spot #7 or #8, but that will be covered later.  For now, let's look at the question as it is.  It probably comes from the asker being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of Lego they see.  They realize that in their own lives they would never have time to put so many bricks together themselves.  As with so many of the other questions on this list, it comes from the preconception of Lego being nothing more than a toy, a thing that their 10 year old son got one once and lost half the pieces of, and hurts when you step on it.

 The problem with this question is, of course, when a Lego builder hears it, their eyes want to roll back so far they come up the other side.  After being asked a few times, they come to realize that they aren't actually saying what they mean, confusing the word 'build' with 'design'.  Still, the answer is obviously a resounding and emphatically sarcastic "No, of course not.  I let the minifigures build whatever they want while I'm asleep.  Why, do you do it differently?"  This question is like asking a photographer if they took all those pictures themselves.  Either they did, or they stole it.

#7: "How did you make all these Legos?"

 This one more specifically addresses the aspect of the visitor being unable to understand how anyone could manage to invest so much time into their Lego building as what they're seeing indicates that someone has.  They want to know, how is this possible?  What other parts of your life did you have to sacrifice in order to have the time for this?  When do you socialize if you spend so much time on Lego?

 Unfortunately, that's not what the builder hears when someone asks this question.  What they hear is "How did you put those bricks together into that shape?".  And the answer to that is of course "Uhm..  With my hands.  And my imagination.  I got the parts that were the right shape and colour, and I put them on top of each other.  What do you mean, 'how'?  Is there another way of building other than strategic stacking that I'm not aware of?"

#8: "Is that a kit?"

 There are a few ways this question can be worded, with varying levels of accidental insult, including "Did you buy that?", "Is that a box?", "Is that your own idea?", and of course "Are these real Legos, or did you design them yourself?".  It's important to understand that in all these cases, there's most likely no insult intended, and in many cases, none to be taken.  They simply want to know which ones of the models they're seeing had instructions for how to make them, and which ones you came up with, designed and built yourself.  It's annoying though, because the builder of all these things feels like it should be totally obvious which ones were sets, and which ones weren't.

 The answer here depends greatly on what exactly it is that is being asked about, and how the question is worded.  If they ask if a set is a kit, the answer is easily "Yes.".  If they ask if a set is a box, the answer is "No, but the parts for it came in one."  If they ask if you bought it, the answer could be "No, the robots followed me home one day."  And in the case of asking if it's real Lego or an MOC, the answer is always a barely stifled slap to the face, followed by "Da heck is that s'posed to mean??"  Is that real hair, or did you comb it?  Is that a real tree, or did it just grow there?

#9: "Legos"

 These aren't all questions, and this one is something that every builder hates to hear, yet it somehow works its way into almost every question a visitor to a builder's collection will ask.  Legos, or worse 'Laygoes' is essentially just a mispronunciation and improperly applied pluralization.  I've heard it used to refer to multiples of bricks, sets, and even studs, as if it were a unit of measurement.  Not actually a bad idea in that case, but until it's officially made a reality, it's improper grammar.  And never has a simple grammatical error caused so much aggravation to such a specific group of people.

 Every builder already knows how they respond to this one.  The only question is how enthusiastically they react to it.  From a simple "Actually, the plural is just 'Lego'.", to the equally simple "Stop, for the sake of three different languages, stop saying that!", to the less simple movie quote that every child should be familiar with.  "You keep on using that word...  I do not think it means what you think it means."  What it comes down to is, Lego is the company.  Saying 'Legos' in reference to bricks makes as much sense as saying 'Youtubes' in reference to videos.

#10: "You have way too much free time on your hands."

 This one is different from the others.  This one is a direct and deliberate implication that spending time and money on building things with Lego is not only something that one should allot to their free time, but that even that free time would be better spent on something else, something more productive like flipping burgers or going to college for four years so you can get a degree in flipping burgers to pay off your loans.  But that aside, even if Lego building is something that gets allotted to the free time, because even builders can have busy schedules, from the builder's perspective, there is no such thing as free time.  To anyone else, it looks like just playing around with plastic toys, but to the builder, it's a puzzle, a challenge in the mental, physical, practical, functional, and aesthetic sense.

 Time is not something you can have too much of.  It's a finite resource in everyone's life, and the way one chooses to spend it is what defines them as a person.  A Lego builder is a creator, and telling a creator that they have too much opportunity to create is just plain old not cool.  It seems likely that such comments would be born of an underlying jealousy, stemming from the visitor's realization that not only does the builder have a good deal more time than they do with which to exercise their creativity, but that the builder has chosen something more visibly impressive than they have, and also that the builder is clearly gaining far more enjoyment from their time than they have been able to.

 The answer then, could be as simple as "Pff, no I don't.  Never enough time."  Which is indeed true, as anyone working in any field, can certainly agree.  It could also be as complicated as a long, thoughtful conversation on the economical management of time, and the hectic schedule of modern life.  Or, it could go the way that inner voice wants it to go, which is something like "Too much free time?  There are so many things wrong with that statement that I don't even know where to begin.  I suppose you have it all figured out so that you have exactly enough free time each day.  Please, enlighten me.  Seriously, if you've calculated exactly how much free time a person should have every day, and you can show me how I've gone over the recommended daily serving, then please do so."

End of Part 2