# Cheap Electrical Receptacles have hymens now? Awesome **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 18, 2018, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382 "2018-05-18T01:24:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/21 "2018-05-18T15:41:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So if you have to punch through, doesn’t that thin layer of plastic then potentially linger inside the socket itself and hamper the electricity conduction? If these are the kind I’m thinking of, you don’t “break” anything. You push, the shutters move out of the way when there’s pressure on both sides, and the plug slides in. [See here for a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mXr9tMx7wI). ---
**Author:** ![johnod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dc4da7/32.png) [@johnod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnod)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/22 "2018-05-18T16:07:07Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > TR receptacles have been proven to significantly reduce serious injuries to toddlers and adults. They also prevent accidents caused by objects coming into contact with old or damaged receptacles, which protects everybody. They cost one quarter more than non-TR receptacles. (Sorry, in aceplace-ease, that’s “two bits.”) And they’re not even required for every outlet (just those near the floor.) > > There’s nanny-statism, and there’s practical, evidence-based approaches to improving building safety. I’ll let you struggle with determining which things are which. No struggle at all, nanny-stateism through and through. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/23 "2018-05-18T16:33:12Z")
Tamper resistant receptacles are a good choice and should be on the market. I don’t think it’s necessary to make them mandatory by code. Homes were wired in the 1930’s,40’s. Baby boomers, their children, and their grandchildren have managrd to live in those homes safely. Kids sticking bobby pins in outlets isn’t all that common. I know it happens and I’m glad there’s after market products available that parents can purchase inexpensively. I bought something like this 20 years ago when my kids were born. Took less than 30 mins to child proof the empty receptacles in the entire house. > **[Amazon.com : Safety 1st Deluxe Press Fit Outlet Plugs, 8 Count : Outlet Covers :...](https://www.amazon.com/Safety-1st-Deluxe-Press-Outlet/dp/B00005U8T5)** > > Amazon.com : Safety 1st Deluxe Press Fit Outlet Plugs, 8 Count : Outlet Covers : Baby Many receptacles are behind furniture and not accessible to children. Yet, code would require their use any way. It’s not fun fumbling behind a couch to plug in a lamp. Tamper resistant just makes it even harder. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/24 "2018-05-18T16:52:18Z")
Btw, jokes about electrical plugs and receptacles have been around long before I was born. I like this one. Safe for work [https://goo.gl/images/6bJDvf](https://goo.gl/images/6bJDvf) Pretty cute > **[CartoonStock - Cartoon](https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=CS404598)** > > Cartoon library, fully catalogued and searchable, instant downloads. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/25 "2018-05-18T17:05:54Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Btw, jokes about electrical plugs and receptacles have been around long before I was born. My personal [favorite](https://www.google.com/search?q=drawings+on+electrical+outlets&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyy7aX34_bAhXC7YMKHZ7DDHUQ_AUICigB&biw=1434&bih=879#imgrc=FhmOxM-aia7f6M:&spf=1526663087927). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/26 "2018-05-18T17:43:55Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Homes were wired in the 1930’s,40’s. Baby boomers, their children, and their grandchildren have managrd to live in those homes safely. Except for the ones that died, sure. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/27 "2018-05-18T17:54:09Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Except for the ones that died, sure. You misspelled “the ones who had sense enough to not fiddle with electrical outlets.” Darwin, luck, etc. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/28 "2018-05-18T18:01:09Z")
Because 2 year olds are such models of constraint and safety. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/29 "2018-05-18T18:10:47Z")
Which is why I specifically pointed out inexpensive child safety caps for receptacles and used them in my own home. No one here is suggesting safety in the home isn’t important. We don’t need the Nanny State to tell us that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/30 "2018-05-18T18:14:12Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > You misspelled “the ones who had sense enough to not fiddle with electrical outlets.” Darwin, luck, etc. 😉 Call it luck. I’m no fucking idiot, but as a kid, I stuck shit in the electrical outlet and got zapped a few times. I guess I eventually figured out not to do that, but how in the shit was I supposed to know the first time or two that sticking conductive materials into an electrical receptacle is a bad idea? Eventually, I figured it out through trial and error I guess, but what is this “sense” when you’re four or five years old and have no idea how the world works? My brother wasn’t quite as lucky, although he survived, when he stuck something into an outlet and ended up with a trip to the ER and a giant electrical burn down his hand, maybe six inches long or so. Luckily, I was in the room with him and managed to somehow drag him from outlet without getting zapped myself (or perhaps he had already broken the connection), but it wasn’t pretty. He was probably about 3 at the time, and I would have been 9 or 10. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/31 "2018-05-18T18:20:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Because 2 year olds are such models of constraint and safety. Well not anymore. The dim ones have reproduced! ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/32 "2018-05-18T18:48:06Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Which is why I specifically pointed out inexpensive child safety caps for receptacles and used them in my own home. > > No one here is suggesting safety in the home isn’t important. > > We don’t need the Nanny State to tell us that. If you are a professional in electrics, you should well know that safety standards are enforced for good reasons (which can be matters of life or death) and that you can get in hot water if you don’t apply them. If you’re not, you had no business installing those receptacles in the first place. (at least by the laws in my neck of the woods) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/33 "2018-05-18T18:51:17Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > No one here is suggesting safety in the home isn’t important. > > We don’t need the Nanny State to tell us that. Apparently we do. Any other bits of building codes you’d like to do away with? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/34 "2018-05-18T19:19:43Z")
What did the electrician say when his daughter came home at 2:00 am? “Wire you insulate?” ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/35 "2018-05-18T19:35:24Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Which is why I specifically pointed out inexpensive child safety caps for receptacles and used them in my own home. You mean the caps that, in a [study conducted by the NFPA](https://www.esfi.org/resource/tamper-resistant-receptacles-childproofing-done-right-573), 100% of toddlers were able to remove in 10 seconds? ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/36 "2018-05-18T21:31:28Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > You mean the caps that, in a [study conducted by the NFPA](https://www.esfi.org/resource/tamper-resistant-receptacles-childproofing-done-right-573), 100% of toddlers were able to remove in 10 seconds? I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but I do have to point out it says “100% of all 2-4 year olds were able to remove\*\* one type\*\* of plastic outlet cap within 10 seconds” (Bolding mine). I know that toddlers can’t get mine off easily, because they end up being so stinking tight that it takes me a long time to get them off (mostly because I end up having to get a flat head screwdriver!). ---
**Author:** ![pdhenry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pdhenry/32/5561_2.png) [@pdhenry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdhenry)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/37 "2018-05-18T22:24:13Z")
I recently bought an outlet at Home Depot. It had a piece of actual clear plastic over the two plug openings. Are you sure there isn’t a piece of plastic with holes in it there now? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/38 "2018-05-18T22:40:31Z")
> [@pdhenry](#): > > I recently bought an outlet at Home Depot. It had a piece of actual clear plastic over the two plug openings. Are you sure there isn’t a piece of plastic with holes in it there now? Just like a hymen, you mean? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/39 "2018-05-19T07:52:48Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Just like a hymen, you mean? They’re making hymens out of plastic these days? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382/40 "2018-05-19T10:28:16Z")
> [@Cleophus](#): > > It has nothing to do with inferior manufacturing processes. The outlets you are referring to are tamper-resistant outlets. The plastic pieces you are referring to are shutters to prevent children from inserting fingers or other objects. The shutters open when a plug is inserted and close when the plug is removed. Both tamper-resistant and non-tamper resistant are available, and code requires the tamper-resistant version to be used in new construction. So THAT’S why when we shifted sixty feet eastward to a remodeled unit in December of 2016 several wall outlets just Would. Not. Accept. the devices I tried to plug in. Cheap tamper-resistant outlets. Got the handyman to fix them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-electrical-receptacles-have-hymens-now-awesome/814382.md?page=3)