The Washer/dryer combination is a real headache for our London staff.  I don’t think we have ever had a client from North America who has ever used a washer/dryer at home!  Imagine the picture!  The let-in lady receives the guests who have been on a flight from Los Angeles all night.  They arrive, tired, half asleep, dragging their cases into the flat with one thing in mind:  a nap!  Well, what do they encounter?  A lovely, bubbly, eager-to-share hostess who is going to show the visitors how every machine works.  The pump toilets?  The five keys?  The fuse box?  The hob?  The power shower?  AND OF COURSE THE WASHER/DRYER.  The exhausted visitors follow the flat hostess around trying to be absolutely polite and attentive, but nothing is registering in the poor guest’s brain.  So, the flat hostess thanks them for their attention and gives the visitors her mobile number in case they have any questions or slight emergencies.  Then what?  The guests land on their beds and that’s the end of them for a few hours.  When the lady of house wakes up, she decides to put in a small wash of whites.  And what does she face?  Right!  The totally-new-experience washer/dryer that at this point is as complex as a space flight to the moon.  So, the first thing that happens is a call to the flat hostess who is waiting for the call because it happens all day long.  The flat hostess wants to say:  LOOK, I SHOWED YOU IN CAREFUL DETAIL, but out of politeness, she tells them to put the dial on C and push START.   Then the client decides that she forgot one piece of clothing and makes an effort to open up the machine once it has started.  It won’t open.  So, a second call to the flat hostess who is waiting!  She tells them for the second time that once the machine has started, it has to go its entire cycle before you can open it.  Then, after what seems a century, the cycle finishes, and the client still can’t open the door.  So, another call to the flat hostess who is expecting the call.  She tells the visitors you have to wait a few minutes after the cycle before the door will open.  By then, the guest realizes that the introduction to the washer/dryer at let-in time was a most important moment.  My suggestion?  Reserve all your energy at let-in time for the washer/dryer.  Do all you can to see that you have reserved an ounce of energy and attention for the W/D orientation.  You will be a lot happier, and so will the machine and the let-in hostess.  You will figure out the pump toilets, but the washer/dryer may challenge even the most profound intellect.

It is so amusing.  We assume that since we speak English–in one form or another–that our household machines are the same.  I was helping a housekeeper one morning when she got a call that the lady had dropped some powder on the floor.  The housekeeper told her the Henry was under the stairs.  The visitor said:  ”The What?”   On another occasion, a visitor had burned her bacon.  She called the housekeeper who told her to take it off the hob.  The visitor said:  ”The What?”  Another visitor reported that there was no shower pressure.  She was helped by showing her how to turn on the power shower.  She said:  ”What’s a power shower?”

My suggestions is to give the orientation to the WASHER/DRYER your full attention.  I can tell you stories that will make you laugh for hours.  The funniest one was the story about the lady who turned the drying cycle to HOT.  When she opened up the machine after the drying cycle was over, her blouse would fit a doll, and her slacks were passed down to her daughter aged 10. One visitor’s x-large sweat shirt became a small, and he wanted The London Connection to replace it.  He and I began to roar with laughter as he talked to me about that darn washer/dryer.

Pay attention to the flat hostess’s orientation.  It will save you a great deal of misery!  The Washer/Dryer–oh my goodness!  It can defeat you if you are not careful.  Listen up!

Humorous–well, maybe!

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com