Kat's Rambling Mind

About a year ago, we got a new washing machine. It’s not terribly complicated to use and it’s not overly computerized, but it does have enough cycles, water options, and a big enough tub size to get any washing job done nicely. I love it. I’ve secretly named her Wilma. Wilma even beeps out a little tune to let me know the cycle has ended. Who doesn’t need a little more music added to their day?

Miss Janice, my mother and housemate, pretty much let me have free rein in choosing Wilma, although she has had some feedback to offer. Mainly, she’s informed me that this washing machine sounds…. different.

“There’s something wrong with this washer! It sounds funny!”, she said.

“What do you mean, it sounds funny?”, I said.

Miss Janice then proceeded to inform me that while our old washer went, “Whssssshhh…..WHRRRCH-CH-CH-CH-CH”, the new one sounds like, “THOMP…..WHAAAMP WHAAAMP WHAAAMP WHAAAMP…and then it makes a little doodling sound when it’s done!”.

I told her she was exactly right. It sounds like that because instead of having an agitator like our old machine, this one had a pulsator. Clothes get just as clean with less wear and tear.

“It pulses?”, she asked.

“It pulses”, I replied.

“Well, it has so many choices I don’t know how to wash my clothes!”, she lamented. I showed her which settings to use for her clothes, and she simmered down a little, although she still wasn’t convinced this new washer was capable. I reminded her that different doesn’t always have to mean bad. She walked away, muttering under her breath.

Fast forward a few months, and I’m having lunch next to two elderly couples. One woman starts telling a story, and suddenly she goes, “And it sounds like WHAAAMP WHAAAMP WHAAAMP WHAAAMP”…..I immediately perked up. She then regales everyone nearby with tales of their new washer, which she and her husband both hate with an apparent passion. (I confess, I started to ask them why they bought it, but decided that would be rude.)

After she finished, I was sitting there grinning. I leaned over and said, “We have that same one. My mother still hasn’t adjusted.”

She looked at me knowingly and nodded. She felt completely justified.

So, my dear elders, while those newfangled washing machines may sound different these days, I promise it’s not a plot by younger generations. Your clothes will still get clean, honest.

I did start thinking about how technology has advanced during my mother’s lifetime and even my own. Between us, we’ve seen everything from the advent of television to the moon landing, the rise of the computer and the cell phone, the switch from records to tapes to cd’s and back again. Items that used to be luxuries are now considered necessities, and technology pricing has dropped in such a way that gadgets and appliances are far more affordable than they used to be.

Not to mention the “smart” capabilities available nowadays. While I don’t personally see the need for most smart technology in my own life, I do have a few things with smart features, and I can understand the attraction for a busy parent with a family. Overall, I don’t mind smart technology.

As long as it doesn’t get to be smarter than me, of course. (Which it inevitably will.) I just hope I’m able to keep up and accept the changes I know are coming.