Don’t wash electronics
Written on 12/28/2023 and tagged: memories, photos, tip
A lesson learned when I was six years old.
My mom recently showed me the above photo, taken 39 years ago (1984) on Christmas day. My dad—24 years old at the time—is wearing the black shirt, my uncle is wearing the white shirt, and I’m kneeling on the floor. We’re in my grandmother’s house surrounded by red floral wallpaper and olive-green carpeting.
When I saw the toy on the floor—a Tomy Toys Monster Machines Mad Masher—in front of younger me, a core memory came rushing from the deepest recesses of my mind: I eventually ruined that toy by washing it.
I can remember it clear as day: at some point during the next spring (1985), I was playing with that toy in a muddy area of my babysitter’s yard and, wanting it to be clean before I was picked up, I took it into her bathroom, turned on the sink faucet, and started washing it.
A moment or two later, my dad arrived to bring me home and saw what I was doing. Figuring it was probably too late, he kindly told me what happens when water and electronics mix. Needless to say, I have no memory of playing with that toy ever again.
So, I guess, take this as an opportunity to tell the children, don’t wash electronics.