I’m ready to dump my new washing machine. Just watch this for 30 seconds and you’ll know why:
That bright red shiny GE front loader is just six months old. It shakes, it squeaks, it shimmies, it rocks and it rolls every load. Heck, this video is kinda tame you should see it loaded with towels. My five year old keeps trying to tell me that it is a transformer that’s trying to come to life….I’m not buying it.
I’ve had GE out here 4 times to try to “fix” it before it cracks the sheetrock. Here’s what they do. They run it with no clothes in it. And, of course, the machine purrs like a kitten. Then George the technician (we’re on a first name basis) looks at me and says, the drum is balanced, must be the load that’s going in that isn’t balanced. You’re doing something wrong.
“But George, I packed it full last time, just like you told me too and it still shakes violently.”
He just sighs. According to George, the GE repair man, all front loaders do this rock and roll thing and if it were him, he’d “only ever buy a top loader because the front loaders are so tricky to load right.”
So here I am. I’ve got this sucky, loud machine (that I of course begged Chris and the kids to buy for me) and GE is telling me I’m the problem. And then it dawned on me, perhaps I am the problem. My last washer was a Kenmore top loader. I had it for the past 16 years. Over the years, it broke down several times, only performed one cycle and had all kinds of quirks develop that I slowly figured out. I’m approaching this new machine, as if it were my old one - jamming any type of load into it - without taking the time to figure it’s quirks out. Of course it’s shaking like a freak. That’s because I’m being one.
That’s exactly how I used to be with men when I was younger. A freak. I ran from every broken relationship into the arms of a new one. And of course, dragging with me all kinds of dirty laundry and expectations instead of just starting fresh. Soon enough, I’d be trying to make him change instead of taking the time to learn just who he was and who he wasn’t. Just like I’m doing in my relationships with my new washing machine.
What’s the lesson? Simple. I have a choice. I can either try to turn my new GE into my old Kenmore. Or, I can clear the slate and start a new relationship. I suspect if I were to stop and take the time to learn the GE’s quirks, likes and dislikes and learn how to load it correctly - it’d stop shaking like a freak and start purring like a kitten.
