Ode to Whirlpool

Have you ever just stood and gazed at your refrigerator? I’m not talking about standing there with the door open as you try to decide what to munch on for an afternoon snack. I’m talking about standing there in admiration of the enormous ice box, the contraption that keeps your ice cream at the perfect temp, the shiny magnetic silver exterior (or in lots of cases creamy ivory…or in rare cases, like the first fridge I can recall my parents owning, mustard yellow). Most people probably don’t take the time to admire the everyday refrigerator, but allow me to just say…you should.
Our refrigerator in China does exactly what your fridge in America does. It keeps stuff cold. Only our fridge is about the size of one of those that college students tote off to their dorm room for storing leftover pizza. (with the exception that it is about double in height of one of those because it also has a handy little freezer section) Don’t get me wrong, we’re not complaining about our cute dorm refrigerator. We realize there are plenty of places around the world without fridges at all. But our adventure yesterday to the Asian equivalent of a Sears was a reminder of the beauty of those good ole, giant, made-in-America Whirlpool refrigerators. The walls were lined with the monstrous “ice boxes.” You could take your pick of color, freezer on top, freezer on bottom, double door, single door, ice maker in the door, ice maker inside, etc… We walked through the maze of refrigerators like kids at Disneyworld; overwhelmed, excited, and not knowing which way to go first.
We opened just about every fridge in that store and each time we gasped in amazement at the amount of space in each one.
“Look! A whole carton of eggs could fit in this egg shelf!”
“Our Gatorade bottles could actually stand UPRIGHT in this one!”
At one point I think I let out one of those giddy Junior High girly giggles as Brandon opened the freezer part of an ice-making giant silver one. I could just picture all the things I could keep frozen! I could imagine myself going to Fu Mart without having to think to myself… “wait a minute, do we have room in the fridge for two cartons of milk today, or just one?”
And then just a few yards away from the fridge section stood a gleaming white Whirlpool washer and dryer set. It was like seeing Romeo & Juliet, peanut butter & jelly, OJ Simpson & an orange jumpsuit. Two things that together mean so much more than apart. To see them sitting there beside each other just seemed like a happy ending to a fairy tale, no washer should ever be left without its counterpart. Yet, our washer in China, while it does as good of a job as any washer in America (only it takes 2 hours instead of quick 30 minutes) is missing its best friend. The other half is no where to be found…at least not in our city anyways. But none the less, our clothes get clean, dry, and do perfectly fine not know the fluffy perfection they are missing out on.
So friends, all this to say… Pat your clothes dryer on the back for doing the job in one hour all the while catching all that pesky lint. Or the next time you slam shut the door of your refrigerator in disgust of the 5 gargantuan shelves of leftovers, think of us and give your Whirlpool a little smile in admiration.