We've all heard the story of the faithful, old married couple who lived and worked together for so many years, and then when one of them suddenly dies, the other spouse then follows them in death within hours. Such is the sad but true story from our household.
They were side-by-side for 28 years, and as things go nowadays, they all say you'll not see the likes of a pair like that again. They both served us diligently and without complaint since they first arrived as a part of our household back in 1988. We were still kind of newlyweds, had just bought our first house and knew we needed a pair like this. Sue searched the Consumers Reports magazine in the local library, as there was no such thing as the internet, and she made an excellent decision when she selected the both of them to come aboard the Suneson household. It was an unlikely pairing, somewhat like the Montagues & the Capulets, the Sharks & Jets, or maybe the Hatfields & McCoys. He was a Maytag, she a Whirlpool.
We placed them side-by-side in a small utility closet, I was thankful for their presence which brought to an end the days of wasted time and memories of my squandered youth, as I waited with a pocket full of quarters in the laundromat for my clothes to cycle through wash and dry during my college years. Mr. Maytag was a washer, nothing fancy, no computerized electronic gimmicks, bells or whistles, just a straight-up analog turn-the-dial and let-me know-how-you-want-me-to-handle-your-load-of-dirty-laundry kind of guy. His faithful companion for lo these many years was Mrs. Whirlpool. After Mr. Washer had done his usual yeoman's job, she willing took in the water-soaked load and tumbled them until they where fresh, warm and dry. So nice. Neither of them ever expected a fist full of quarters to do their work.
So, it happened like this, on Saturday morning, a usual load was accepted by Mr. Maytag washer, he filled filled his basin with warm water and began to agitate the soapy water with a load of denim and terry cloth. Then suddenly, he let out a piercing squeal. Sue ran to him to find that he was in a bad way and was smelling bad too. She eased his burden and put a stop to the laundry load. I opened him up as a measure of first aide, and found a pile of rubber shavings and diagnosed him as needing a new belt. We let him rest comfortably as Sue took a basket of half-finished soggy jeans and towels to the local laundromat. A call to Staten's Appliances on Monday morning had a Mr. Staten's son out at the house by 9:45 to look over the patient. We were told the sad news that it was not Mr. Maytag's belts that needed service but rather his transmission had failed. Sadly, there was no hope of repairing his transmission. With a lump in my throat, I consulted my wife and we decided to pulled the plug on Mr. Maytag.
The very next Saturday, after we purchased a used Whirlpool washing machine and had done just a single load of wash, I went to place the wet laundry into Mrs. Whirlpool dried, only to have her refuse my instructions to begin drying. This had never happened before. But she just would not, could not respond. She too had given 28 years of service and was now also done. Another call to Staten's Appliances and I was walked through the diagnosis over the phone, no house call necessary. In Mrs. Whirlpool's circumstance, she needed her door safety switch replaced. Once a used part was put in place she began to dry again once the door is closed.
Mr. Staten tells us the new appliances are filled with electronic controls that do not hold up for more than 4 or 5 years in the humid environment of a laundry closet. America used to build washers and dryers with mechanical controls that would go for 25 to 30 years. But that quality of machine was an "unsustainable economic corporate manufacturing model". Old Mr. Maytag, you were made right and ran well, you were what was right and good about America. So sorry to see and the values you held go to the junkyard.
They were side-by-side for 28 years, and as things go nowadays, they all say you'll not see the likes of a pair like that again. They both served us diligently and without complaint since they first arrived as a part of our household back in 1988. We were still kind of newlyweds, had just bought our first house and knew we needed a pair like this. Sue searched the Consumers Reports magazine in the local library, as there was no such thing as the internet, and she made an excellent decision when she selected the both of them to come aboard the Suneson household. It was an unlikely pairing, somewhat like the Montagues & the Capulets, the Sharks & Jets, or maybe the Hatfields & McCoys. He was a Maytag, she a Whirlpool.
We placed them side-by-side in a small utility closet, I was thankful for their presence which brought to an end the days of wasted time and memories of my squandered youth, as I waited with a pocket full of quarters in the laundromat for my clothes to cycle through wash and dry during my college years. Mr. Maytag was a washer, nothing fancy, no computerized electronic gimmicks, bells or whistles, just a straight-up analog turn-the-dial and let-me know-how-you-want-me-to-handle-your-load-of-dirty-laundry kind of guy. His faithful companion for lo these many years was Mrs. Whirlpool. After Mr. Washer had done his usual yeoman's job, she willing took in the water-soaked load and tumbled them until they where fresh, warm and dry. So nice. Neither of them ever expected a fist full of quarters to do their work.
So, it happened like this, on Saturday morning, a usual load was accepted by Mr. Maytag washer, he filled filled his basin with warm water and began to agitate the soapy water with a load of denim and terry cloth. Then suddenly, he let out a piercing squeal. Sue ran to him to find that he was in a bad way and was smelling bad too. She eased his burden and put a stop to the laundry load. I opened him up as a measure of first aide, and found a pile of rubber shavings and diagnosed him as needing a new belt. We let him rest comfortably as Sue took a basket of half-finished soggy jeans and towels to the local laundromat. A call to Staten's Appliances on Monday morning had a Mr. Staten's son out at the house by 9:45 to look over the patient. We were told the sad news that it was not Mr. Maytag's belts that needed service but rather his transmission had failed. Sadly, there was no hope of repairing his transmission. With a lump in my throat, I consulted my wife and we decided to pulled the plug on Mr. Maytag.
The very next Saturday, after we purchased a used Whirlpool washing machine and had done just a single load of wash, I went to place the wet laundry into Mrs. Whirlpool dried, only to have her refuse my instructions to begin drying. This had never happened before. But she just would not, could not respond. She too had given 28 years of service and was now also done. Another call to Staten's Appliances and I was walked through the diagnosis over the phone, no house call necessary. In Mrs. Whirlpool's circumstance, she needed her door safety switch replaced. Once a used part was put in place she began to dry again once the door is closed.
Mr. Staten tells us the new appliances are filled with electronic controls that do not hold up for more than 4 or 5 years in the humid environment of a laundry closet. America used to build washers and dryers with mechanical controls that would go for 25 to 30 years. But that quality of machine was an "unsustainable economic corporate manufacturing model". Old Mr. Maytag, you were made right and ran well, you were what was right and good about America. So sorry to see and the values you held go to the junkyard.
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