The Samurai XIV

"Maria…MARIA!"  The samurai panicked.  He was not about to let an ancient appliance take away his good friend nor his mission.  As he tried to figure out what to do, her mom came downstairs.

"Oh my God…Maria!" she shrieked.  She immediately rushed to the floor to give CPR.  She was pumping and praying, pumping and praying, giving rescue breaths and praying, pumping and praying.  Just as she was about to give up Maria started to cough violently. She had been revived.  Maria looked around as best she could, confusion visible on her face. "Wh-what happened?" she said with a weak voice.

"We don't know," said the Samurai.  "You went to rebalance the washing machine, and the power suddenly went out."

"That's right... I remember trying to balance the washing machine..."  She turned to the appliance in question before her head shot back to look at her burned hand, hissing in pain. Her mother had moved to touch the hand in an attempt to sooth her. "I touched the washing machine with that hand... after that all I remember is waking up, staring at you."

The washing machine looked a lot more ominous now, its puke green body looming over the group huddled on the floor, its gnarly orange power light signaling that it was on and ready for a new load.

Even though she seemed like she would be okay, the group took Maria to a nearby hospital.  After a few hours of waiting, and a quick inspection by some doctors, Maria was released, but one of the doctors had some words for her.

"Be sure to put some aloe vera on that burn.  An electrical burn is like any other burn.  You should definitely get that washer checked out by a technician." The doctor said.

The group nodded in agreement, and then set out the door of the hospital.

"I don't see why we have to pay this guy a hundred and fifty bucks so he can tell us what we already know."  Maria's mom snipped.

"That's not all that is wrong with the medical system."  Maria sighed sadly.

When they returned to the house, Maria's mother wasted no time calling a technician to inspect and repair the washer.  Whenever she was on hold, she made expressions suggesting that this was a waste of time and that the old junkheap of a washer should simply be junked and replaced with one of those new Whirlpool models.

Despite the incompetence of the person on the other side of the phone, the technician arrived within half an hour of the call.  The scruffy old man, appearing to be in his early 70s and in desperate need of retirement, crept down the stairs with his chunky red toolbox and made his way towards the offending appliance.  With a jerk of the power cord, the gnarly orange light on the control panel went out, and the green metallic beast was rendered unconscious.  With the skillful hands of a surgeon, the technician unscrewed the screws, popped out the rivets, nuts and bolts, and removed the front panel.  After rooting around in the guts of the machine, he found the problem.

"Ma'am." he said with his scruffy voice.  "I think I found your problem."  The others leaned in closer.  "One of the cords heading to the motor is missing some of its insulation.  The bare part of the wire was touching the case.  Due to the washer's age, it does not have a grounding system.

"Okay, so what do we do about this?" Maria's mother asked in a sigh.  She was annoyed at how simple this problem was.

"Some electrical tape would do the trick, but this machine is really old, and this could happen with another wire.  I wouldn't be surprised if this happened again, and the next person may not be so lucky as your daughter."

"Okay, good to know that.  What is the bill?"  Maria's mother asked.  She was wincing at the thought of this little fix costing an arm and a leg.

"Twenty bucks ma'am." The man replied.  "I am being nice here."

Maria's mom scoffed and pulled out her checkbook.  The technician proceeded to wrap the bare part of the wire with electrical tape for good measure.

Frustrated but compliant, Maria's mother tore out the check from the checkbook as the guy bolted the face back on the washing machine.  The guy uttered a simple 'thanks' and was out the door to his next call.

"Geeze, I am getting nickel and dimed all over today."  Maria's mom said with frustration.

At this remark, Maria retreated to her room and the samurai followed shortly after.

"It's like my mother doesn't realize that I could have died.  I would hope that her child would be worth getting 'nickel and dimed'."  She said sorrowfully.  She was not crying, but it wouldn't take much if someone wanted to put her over the edge.

"People tend to take for granted what has not been lost." The samurai said.  "I have faith that she is grateful, but doesn't find it just that a doctor charges a lot for a visit to tell you what any Boy Scout could."

Maria sighed.