"You can't have instructions for everything in life..." the text overlay reads. "Meanwhile in Finland:" The clip then introduces a man in a brown suit, poised to demonstrate the correct way to open a door. The title reads, "Finnish Instructional Film 1979: The correct way to open a door." As he approaches, the narration carefully instructs, "The door is approached calmly."
Finland thought opening doors was tricky, in 1979 they made an instructional video about it
The instructional film explained every part of opening the door, including the right posture for it.
Some everyday tasks are so routine that we barely think about them—like opening a door. But what if there were an official guide to doing it the right way? A Finnish instructional film from 1979 does exactly that, and the results are unintentionally hilarious. The vintage clip, which breaks down the seemingly simple act of opening a door, has left the internet in stitches. It was recently shared on Instagram by Varpu Rusila, who goes by @her_finland on the platform.
The video also gave directions about the right "posture" while opening the door and said that a person's posture would be correct if they could lift their right foot in the air effortlessly. "Now you'll extend your left arm towards the door handle," the clip went on. The person slowly turned the handle and opened the door slightly.
"From the emerged opening you will slip your right foot in," the person continued while stepping in through the ajar door. They entered the house or room as the text noted, "Rotating on it and turning your foot while releasing the grip from the handle." The person went inside and closed the door. "Thus you have learned how to open and close a door." The caption asked, "Have you been opening doors the wrong way your whole life?" Rusila shared, "In Finland, we call ourselves 'engineer nation' ('insinöörikansa') - and that made so much sense when I came across this funny video." She pointed out, "Psst… If this resonates with you, there is a chance you’re a hidden Finn." People took to the comments section of the video to express their thoughts on the same.
@ooogagnon wrote, "Sorry, but that is a very advanced technique, look at that twist! … but for real, if anyone enters a room like that, I’m either listening at the door or calling the cops." @multilingual.matt joked, "I tried this but it didn't work... The door said 'PULL' on it, does that have something to do with it? Please help!" @crazylmn remarked, "Damn...I have been opening doors wrong all my life... not dangling foot in air, nor pivot...never approached a door calmly in my life... I should be ashamed of myself."
@patrickholland77 shared, "My problem is the calm approach, when I see a door I just hurl myself at it. Thanks for the post, I'll give this a try." @flobo79 commented, "Doors were just introduced in Finland in 1979. So there was a lot of hype going on. It was on almost every TV show for some time. There were a lot of people objecting to doors for safety concerns and there were even a few demos. However, public media was given taxpayers money to come up with these educational videos. There are others just about door handles too and about doors with windows and how to properly look through those windows. Crazy times."
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