As an engineer myself, I understand that things get missed during the design phase of a project. However, there are certain things that are more likely to be overlooked if you do not have small children. Those of us with children know all to well the weaknesses of product design. If it can be built, a child can find a way to break it. Take our refrigerator for instance. What can a two year old do to a fridge you ask? Well, let me explain.
Our fridge is upside down to begin with. The refrigerator is on top and the freezer is a pull out drawer on the bottom. Keep that in mind as it will be an important detail in just a little bit.
Friday morning I headed to work like any other day. Laura was doing some cleaning around the house before leaving with Mason to go to Grandma’s house for a birthday party and trick or treating for Halloween. She was going to be gone all weekend. When I get home from work, Laura and Mason had already left. That evening, I went to a friend’s house for their daughter’s first birthday party. Since I was eating at their house, I had no reason to get in the refrigerator at home. My first mistake of the weekend.
Saturday morning, I headed out to work on my snow plowing tractor getting it ready for winter. Putting chains on, checking fluids, etc. As I do not normally eat breakfast, I again, did not get into the fridge. My second mistake of the weekend. I ended up losing track of time and worked through lunch as well. In the afternoon, I was packing for a business trip to
By now, it is a little after six o’clock. I notice the dog spending a lot of time licking the floor next to the refrigerator. A little odd but not completely out of character for him. After about ten minutes, I decided I had better check to see what the dog is eating (as more often than not I find my self cleaning it up later in a different part of the house). A red puddle was forming on the floor under the freezer. Huh. I open the freezer and note that things still looked frozen but there is a puddle of red popsicle in the bottom. I then open the refrigerator…My third, and worst, mistake…
The smell was indescribable. It would have made our dog sick, and he likes to roll around on dead things in the yard! After quickly slamming the fridge door shut and running outside for air that does not set my lungs on fire, I’m thinking, great, now we have to buy a new refrigerator and I am leaving tomorrow for nearly a week! After recovering from the horrendous smell, I take a deep breath, run back in the house and check the temperature dial in the fridge to make sure it did not get turned off. Barley able to see past the water coming to my eyes from the stench, I verified that the fridge was indeed turned on but it was not cold. I also looked in the freezer for any knobs and could not find any. Well, that is one dead refrigerator. I have no idea how long it had not been working, but I do know that it was long enough to make cottage cheese out of the milk.
I call Laura and explain the situation, and the first thing she said was, “did you check the knob in the freezer?” As I mentioned earlier, the freezer is on the bottom of the refrigerator. Since I am 6’3” tall, I am not able to see the temperature control knob without getting down on my hands and knees and sticking my head in the freezer. Yep, there it was, and of course, the knob read “OFF”. What the…?!? It was discovered Monday, that Mason likes turning the knob in the freezer to OFF since he did it three more times that day.
So here are the failures in design of this fridge as I see it:
- Temperature control knob for the freezer should NOT be at the perfect height for a two year old to play with.
- Temperature control knob that is in a location that a two year old can play with should NOT turn the entire refrigerator OFF!
I am positive that the engineers that designed my refrigerator, and put the “off” switch two feet off the floor, do not have small children. It has been my experience thus far with Mason that any knob must be turned and any button must be pushed. Even if it means ruining all the food in a refrigerator. Honestly, what good is a knob if you can't turn it?
If you are in the market for a refrigerator and have small children, be cognizant of the location of the off switch.
