I’m 20 Years Old, I Just Did My First LEGO Set, And Now I’m Addicted

I am going to admit right now, upfront, that prior to about, oh I don’t know, four days ago, I thought LEGOs were lame, boring, useless, pretty much all the adjectives you could use to describe something you’ve never felt the urge to try (LEGO, if you’re reading this, I am so sorry).

I’m not sure why I thought these things, but for starters, I never built LEGOs growing up (maybe I did, but none that I remember). I don’t think it came from a lack of interest or that my parents didn’t buy me toys, we just never had them in the house. In hindsight, I wouldn’t consider myself a very “hands-on” person either (like when you fill out those self-assessments and they ask how you learn the best, I would never pick “hands-on” or “by making something myself”), so it probably wouldn’t have been my toy of choice either.

But now, as a 20-year-old, I’ve seen the light. My boyfriend is someone who, I’ll say it, is the type to like LEGOs. He got this huge LEGO set as a gift. When we jokingly talked about building it together, I played along, but secretly I thought, “You’re an adult. Why did you get LEGOs as a gift?” (I was then informed that this set was for 16+, so that made it less lame apparently) But the time came when, yes, I agreed to build the LEGO set. 

I’m not sure what I was expecting because, again, I had never built one before. I guess I figured there would be instructions, but I thought they’d be the lame black and white kind with too many words that make it actually way harder to put together. Nope. This instruction manual was thick, with those pages that were satisfying to turn, with zero words, just clear pictures of how many of each piece you needed and where they had to go. Even better, the pieces were separated into bags per step with one to two smaller bags with the smaller pieces. 

But more importantly, LEGOs provided me with a much-needed, calming, therapeutic activity. I’m someone who doesn’t relax very well, and to do “mindless tasks” that require my brain to shut off for just a little bit isn’t something that I do often. I’ve tried coloring, yoga, exercising, all the things you’re supposed to do to relax, but none 100% clear my mind. Even if I’m watching TV, I always have my laptop out to multitask (which is scientifically proven to be less productive, but I do it anyway). When I was building these LEGOs, though, I was tuned in for an entire bag of pieces, and then was able to take a break afterward. Or, I used LEGOs as a reward for getting a few things checked off my list. 

In conclusion, I’m here to confess that I was so very wrong about LEGOs. No, LEGOs are not just for kids, and no, they are not lame, and no, they are not particularly easy either. They are however very out of stock of a lot of sets, which goes to show just how popular they are, but I have my eye on a few sets (namely Harry Potter and Disney, duh).

To LEGO, I profoundly apologize for my misconception of your product and I am now a loyal fan. And also, LEGO, if you’re reading this, I’m looking for an internship and am willing to live in Denmark.