How
many Americans does it take to change a light bulb?
Written
on 5/3/2016
So,
How many American's does it take to change a light bulb?
.....
.....
.....
....
Just
one actually. (Me!)
But
it took me about a month to finally get around to doing it.
You
see, the light bulb in my kitchen/shower went out a while ago. And
instead of going to the hardware store and fixing the bulb, I kept
putting it off and using my phone as a light, or a candle, or a
Luminaid light.
Each
of these techniques had its own unique problems. The Luminaid worked
great, until I kept forgetting to charge them in the sunlight. Using
my Iphone was problematic when I needed to use both of my hands to
cook, and my mouth just doesn't quite hold an Iphone in the right
way. And candles are really lovely, but they just don't make enough
light and also, as you can probably imagine, I had a tough time
showering with a candle at night.
So
today, after days of putting "get a new light bulb. Fix light in
kitchen" on my to-do list, I finally made my way over to the
hardware store. Halfway there, I realized I forgot the French word
for light bulb (ampoule)
and figured - what the heck, I will say the word for light in
Malagasy (jiro)
and they will understand.
It
worked! And the man showed me the light bulbs they had. It's a small
selection really, 6 different types of light bulbs. But anyone who
knows me knows that decision making about small things isn't my
strong point. So he continues to talk about all the different types
of light bulbs trying to get me to just pick one and finally I just
say, "you know, I just need to see in my house."
The
owner of the store, who is sitting across the room at his desk just
starts cracking up and says, "Do you need to see really well or
is it okay if its kind of dark?"
I said, "Really well!"
and he told the man helping me which light bulb to hand over.
Just
when I thought the struggle was over...the helper points to the end
of two light bulbs, one is a screw-in light bulb, and the other sort
of clicks in. He asks which one I need and I say, "I really
don't know! I didn't look at that at my house! At this point, the owner of the store is almost falling over in his
chair because he is laughing so hard and the guy helping me is trying
his best to keep himself together.
After minutes of explaining to me that there are two different types of
light bulbs and trying to get me to remember which one I need, I
finally get an idea to solve the problem, "Which one do people
use most often? I thought that was a good way to solve the problem, they thought it
was hilarious, but still gave me the one they said I probably have,
and said I could come back and exchange it if I was wrong.
So.
I got the light bulb (it was the right kind!) and I fixed the light.
AND I FINALLY
crossed that off my to do list.
And
I'm sure the owner of the store will tell the joke of the American
who didn't know which light bulb to use in her house for the rest of
his life.
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