My father was in the military, a General in fact. He was quite a ladies man and virile as I have so many brothers and sisters and even cousins, I hardly recognize some of them. I am one of the oldest, older in fact than anyone expected so that some of the family thought I’d be gone long ago with maybe some of my parts being donated to science. Not science really, but used for something, just the same.
My mother came from a very large family scattered all over the US and the world. Very influential, too. She had a mass of hair that kind of stood out from her head like curly straws. The Electric family was admired and when she and Dad had so many of us, they had to get more space and found a nice place that would keep us comfortable until another family kind of adopted us. The new family had to pay before we could go with them. I guess it was for taking care of us. The place we stayed was called Sears and they are all over the map too, because our family is so huge.
Some of my younger brothers and sisters are quite fancy with shiny chrome and big windows so they can see really well but carry a big price for their adoption. And others are less dramatic, mostly white and without a window. I am quite proud of being a charming avocado green which was quite the fashion some time ago. At the beginning, I was a most handsome, shiny avocado green with a simple black panel with only two dials. Why do you really need anything more than two…one for time and one for temperature. I believe simplicity is the key to longevity. My parent’s names were stamped on me like a tattoo. “General Electric” so all would know I came from a good family.
After I left Sears, I stayed with a family for about 10 years but they started thinking I wasn’t big enough for their growing family. That was in Redlands, CA, and there isn’t a Sears store in that town. They had to look all over and the price of these younger start-ups was shocking but they found a place where they could pay something every month. So guess what happened to me? I was put outside, on the grass with some old vases, books, phonograph records, even some chairs. They put up a sign, nothing like the Sears sign, as it said Yard Sale. A couple who happened to be running down the street, passed by the house, saw the sign, and then me, still looking good but a little rust now appearing on my legs and I still had the scar on my right side where some kid was playing with a wheelbarrow and ran right into me. Anyway, this couple came back with some money, not very much, maybe $50, and my adopted mother said to them, “Now don’t turn around and sell this because you could get more money. It’s a good one.” They took me around the corner to their house where I sat next to a tired Frigidaire washing machine that died in a couple of years.
These new people were good to me. They did not have a big family, I only got used about once a week, and in good weather, clothes were hung outside. After a couple of years, they took me on a long trip north to Sonoma, CA. I didn’t get enough notice we were moving and I had to pee and was embarrassed when water leaked out of a hose of sorts and ran down the floor of the truck.
I am still with that couple. I’ll admit my avocado green gives away my age but I have been with them 25 years. Just imagine, that long for only $50! My hose, a big fat round one with ridges, leads right outside so if I fart, nobody even knows. I am beginning to moan a bit now and sometimes my insides sound like a metal orchestra but I have endured. I never expected to be functioning this long and I’m sure my parents names on my front face, General Electric, have given me good genes.
I wonder if they will sell my parts or have a garage sale when I can’t take one more load of wash to dry. Surely there is someone who would love to have an avocado green dryer.
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