Strange European Appliances: The Dishwasher

Okay, you people have been clamoring for pictures so pictures you will have! Strap yourselves in for:

Dave’s Appliance Extravaganza
A Saga in Three Parts Because Lissa Complained That None in Their Right Mind Would Read a Single Post This Long

Don’t adjust your television set (which would actually be quite silly since you’re sitting at your computer screen) that charming green color that you’re seeing is the appropriate color!

Out of all of our appliances the dishwasher is probably the least strange, which is why I’m starting here. It will build suspense for later. The dishwasher is quirky in that you have to turn the power on before you select the washer setting, but other than that (and the fact that it’s about the size of a toaster oven) it is not so strange in and of itself. The curious thing about the dishwasher is that it has a “kill switch” up by the kitchen sink. There is literally a little knob that can be turned to instantly stop the water flow to the dishwasher. Bear in mind, it’s not as though water must be diverted from the sink to the dishwasher, the sink still gets water while the dishwasher is running.

The really sad part of all this is how long it took Lissa and me to figure out what the little knob does. The two of us stood around in the kitchen thumbing through instruction manuals for a good 10 minutes in an attempt to find out why the dishwasher wouldn’t run.

Personally, I think the designer of our apartment knew that an American couple would one day be living in this apartment and therefore he threw in the kill switch just to baffle us. I imagine the designer actually said to the foreman, “Ho ho ho, let’s see the silly Americans figure this one out!”

I find the preceding sentence much funnier if I imagine it being said in a silly French accent.