The incontinent Fridge

I bought something and paid more for it because of the brand name today.

Our appliances started staging a coup several months ago. Initially it was the Fridge. It started with funny noises once in awhile. The Hubby gave it a good vacuuming (retrieving enough fur to make another animal which could have been a dog/cat) and it was fine for awhile. Then it started peeing on the floor once it awhile. The incontinence turned into a daily event and lately it was like two or three times a day. Last week the dryer saw all the attention the Fridge was getting and decided hot air wasn’t necessary to dry clothes. The Fridge kept peeing on the floor, the dryer wasn’t drying; the washer, despite its broken knob and pieced together hoses, was working just fine.

By the grace of a good friend telling us her neighbor had a washer and dryer she’d sell us for $10 each (and then she didn’t even take the money) today I got a new-to-me set and can wash and dry clothes again.

The Fridge’s accidents remained a problem so we went to the local big-box home center and scouted out a replacement. I don’t know anything about appliances. The Fridge we had came with the trailer we had, purchased in 1994. I thought it was cool at the time because it could be black or white with a removable panel.

So we’re in the store looking at new Fridges—they all look alike. We walk around opening the doors like the Holy Grail’s inside or something. The only requirement we really had was that the Hubby wanted water and ice in the door and he wanted a side-by-side. I’d always thought I wanted a Fridge with the freezer on the bottom, mainly because that’s the type of setup my Maw-Maw had when I was little and it was the only one I’d ever seen like that. My Mom recently got one like that and I realized what a pain it was and nixed the idea. So we looked at side-by-sides. Hmm, all look alike, 25 cubic feet, 26 cubic feet, look the same. I had no idea my current incontinent Fridge was so small at a mere 18.5 cubic feet, it always looked normal to me.

It finally came down to a Frigidaire or a Roper for $100 less. I don’t know the name Roper. Of course the salesperson wasn’t very helpful, just told us the Frigidaire was better made. They looked the same. But, since I didn’t know what to look for I relied on the brand name I recognized and got the Frigidaire. It will be delivered Tuesday.

The Hubby stood in front of the old one this evening with a glass held to the door; he was practicing for ice and water dispensing. I console myself for buying the name because I didn’t by the really high-end units. What exactly does a refrigerator that costs $2,500 do? I swear, aside from the sleek black or stainless steel exteriors (which show finger prints horribly) I couldn’t find that much more on the elite fridges compared to the one I bought. They don’t cook the food for you or shop for it; they aren’t self-fillable. I don’t get it!