I just moved this weekend into a larger apartment, and I have to say, it was one of the shortest moves of my life. Granted, I did move from one apartment, to the one next door, so I can’t be too smug. But still, in the span of a couple hours, I got almost my entire collection of stuff into the new place. It’s all over but the cleaning.

One thing did stand out to me during the move, and that was the assembly of my daughter’s new bunk bed. It is a metal, square-tubed thing that came from our local big box store, and I just knew it’d take a collection of hate filled afternoons to assemble it.

I was wrong, and I now know why.

You put three men of a certain age, who all have children, together in a room and give them a box of square-tubed stuff to assemble. At that point it becomes a personal mission to have that thing assembled and ready for use in record time.

Power tools come into play, directions are marginally read, (unless you happen to have that friend like I do who LOVES reading instructions) and some slight cursing and a few bumped elbows later, and you have a brand new bunk bed.

Why is this? What is it about men today that have to be the “assemblers”, the ones who sort things out and make them a competition?

Cause we’re guys, is the go-to answer. And if I’m honest, I feel that’s pretty accurate.

Ask any male who has put away the gaming console what he wants for Christmas/birthday/Fathers Day and you get the latest hardware store catalog handed to you with items circled in red marker. That is because we have all done a project without the required tools before, and because of that have a list of things that we “will have to get ourselves someday.”

It’s just a rite of passage, the acquiring of tools. You have certain things to help certain projects along.

And, when your friends help you move, you get to show off all the tools you have!

Ben Cox is the morning show host of “Ben Cox in the Morning” on KQBZ, 96.9 FM in Brownwood Texas. He is the new in-stadium voice of the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets football team, & Ben is also an event DJ for weddings, parties and the like, and can be contacted through the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce.

The thoughts and comments reflected in this column are those of the writer alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of Wendlee Broadcasting, or its affiliates.