Show nr y T. T I. I S By IRIS In my studied opinion the average person doesn't really understand mechanical gadgets Many people we women especially dont don't trust them either Gadgets are necessary In our daily dally living but we use them with caution expecting trouble Usually we get it too IF ANYTHING IS MADE with parts working with other I parts and if the whole is operated by a motor I dont don't really want anything to do with ih My husband was nice enough to buy me an electric can opener for Mothers Mother's Day and when he e asks me how I like it I smile widely and say Fine but I lie Actually I haven't used it yet Im I'm afraid of it it I did get bold enough to try our electric toothbrush when we first b bought it and I wised I I put the little bitty toothbrush slathered with Stripe into ro my Y mouth and flipped the switch What an appalling sensation sensa sensa- tion I felt exactly like a beehive with everybody home I CANT CAN'T EVEN GET THE UPPER hand of simple I objects like lawn sprinklers The kind we use just sitson sitson sits sitson on the lawn and sprays but last summer my neighbor asked me to take charge of hers for an afternoon I agreed not knowing it was the kind that flops back and forth activated by the force of water Certainly I didn't expect to have any ny trouble with it but I did When it was time to move it I picked th sprinkler up putting my smallest finger where it should never have been I almost lost it The sprinkler moved right over It removing large portions of skin My neighbor says I she's never had any trouble with the sprinkler and I never will again I wont won't go never the evil thing I I. I take comfort however in knowing Im I'm not the only person who cant can't come cometo to grips with mechanical gadgets I know lots of people who cant The man across the street from us hates to lift the hood of his car because the sight I of the engine unnerves him He says although he understands understands understands under under- stands the theory of internal combustion very well that he cant can't ever rid himself of at the feeling that lifting the hood will start the engine MY COUSIN HARRIET HAS what may be the oldest washing machine in the country She operates the wringer with a handle As far as Harriet is concerned electricity and water shouldn't be anywhere near each other She says washing in a machine hooked into an electrical outlet is just asking for it Harriet doesn't really trust anything electrical She's sure in her own mind that light will explode if they arent aren't watched closely My dear old grandmother had more than her share of trouble with gadgets Grandpa who loved machines and spent his whole life smelling faintly of grease was always hauling home things for grandmother to try tryout out She learned to cope with nearly everything but It was a door closer that that- almost broke up their 50 year marriage Grandmother had an explosive temper and she was given to punctuating sentences of complaint to grandpa with a door banged to behind her The e- e matic door closer put an end to that When grandmother slammed the door there was no longer a loud satisfying crash There was only the gentle sighing of a door being closed mechanically and in the background the sound of grandpa laughing t |