Just Like in the Story!

Throughout my long, movie-watching life, I've seen a lot of stuff. Stuff that is completely realistic because it just happened to you yesterday, stuff that you can totally see happening because you've felt the same way as the person in the movie, stuff that just makes you laugh because the situations are so funny... all kinds of stuff. But I've always wondered if all the stuff you see in movies is really trustworthy. I mean, I already know none of the women are...they're perfect. Whatever. I'm talking about the stuff that isn't so far-fetched as to be completely unbelievable from the get go but too simple for Mythbusters. Stuff like:

*If you put regular dish soap in a dishwasher, will it make bubbles come out and go all over your kitchen?

Answer: YES. In the movie "Maid to Order" Ally Sheedy's character, having never operated a dishwasher in her life, puts Tide in it. At my house, it was my 12 year old daughter, who has been starting dishwashers ever since she realized there was a little compartment to put soap in with a little door that closed. She's always known which soap goes in the dishwasher but I guess I've never covered what to do when the bottle of dishwasher detergent is empty before the little soap container is full. She improvised. Just add regular dish soap til it's full and run as usual. Not only were there bubbles emanating from the dishwasher and running/spreading all over my kitchen floor, when I opened the dishwasher and pulled out the rack, it was actually a square shaped mass of bubbles.
Thankfully my kitchen floor was in desperate need of cleaning, my children in desperate need of fun and me in desperate need of comic relief. I restarted the dishwasher to let the bubbles flow, they removed their shoes and socks so they could "skate" and I cooked dinner (in bare feet) listening to them cooperate.

*If you turn on your blender without a lid, will it really go all over and make a mess?

Answer: YES. Arguably, this might be said to be dependent on the type of blender you have. Mine happens to have a variable speed switch that I always turn all the way down when I turn it off. I have, however, gotten into the habit of tossing things into the container and blending with no lid at a low speed...because I always turn the speed all the way down. This is a bad habit to have if there are other people in the house who might conceivably use said blender AND LEAVE THE SPEED SWITCH WHEREVER THEY WANT...LIKE ON HIGH. Needless to say, being barely awake,getting all of the smoothie ingredients gathered in the blender and flipping it on with no lid creates quite a mess. All three of the small appliances on my counter, some fairly important papers, the wall, two cabinets and the writer were summarily splattered with what looked like vomit. Thankfully, 45 antibacterial wipes later, there was still enough to salvage.

*If you turn on the gas in your barbeque BEFORE you open the lid and then light the barbeque, will it make a fire ball?

Answer: YES. It turns out that a young person who has completed this task several times under the direction of his father and several times with no direction (just supervision) will indeed forget some miniscule detail. After reassuring me that he could do it, I looked out the kitchen window to check his progress and saw, with no time to do anything, one hand lifting the lid and the other reaching for the ignite button. It went BOOM!, I said WHOA!, he shrunk from the flame and then sat, with singed hair, eyelashes and eyebrows, with frozen soybeans on his face. My heart fluttered until I was able to get a good look at him; no blisters, eyes were fine, ears were fine - just looking a little sunburned. His biggest concern? How bad does my hair look?

I still don't trust Hollywood but there are going to be things that I see that ring more and more true the longer I live, the longer I live with children and the closer I get to the edge of the cliffs of insanity.