# Mother puts 2 year old in washing machine. WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 25, 2003, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401 "2003-05-25T15:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/41 "2003-05-26T16:45:50Z")
**The Great Unwashed** , Are you serious? #1. It was a _front loading_ machine. Which means, if it were to stop mid cycle, an entire washer full of water would come rushing out onto the floor. I don’t forsee any clothes-washing emergencies (except the obvious, “help, my babies in the washer!!”) that would require such a drastic measure. #2. In a laundrymat you’ve got the option of a front loading or top loading washer (at least, every one I’ve ever been to in my 25 years). The top loading ones can be stopped at any time. If you’re that concerned that you might have to break into the machine for whatever laundry emergency you forsee, use a top loader. #3. No really, are you serious? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/42 "2003-05-26T17:48:36Z")
Having a means of shutting off power and releasing the door is extremely dangerous and certainly carries far greater risks than that of someone being trapped inside. When a fully loaded machine is on spin, that drum takes some time to slow down, even if it is one with a brake system. Having the means to open the door during this time could be lethal. Doors are safety interlocked electrically with the water level sensor and the drum rotation sensor, and you need power on to unlock them too, pulling the plug would prevent you from opening the door. The door is locked by you as you close it, no need for power there, but then it is latched internally as soon as water sensor switch is made by a solenoid, it cannot be opened without power, or a maintenance person comes and lifts of the covers. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/43 "2003-05-26T17:54:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > \*\ ***The Great Unwashed** , > > Are you serious? > > #1. It was a _front loading_ machine. Which means, if it were to stop mid cycle, an entire washer full of water would come rushing out onto the floor. I don’t forsee any clothes-washing emergencies (except the obvious, “help, my babies in the washer!!”) that would require such a drastic measure. > > #2. In a laundrymat you’ve got the option of a front loading or top loading washer (at least, every one I’ve ever been to in my 25 years). The top loading ones can be stopped at any time. If you’re that concerned that you might have to break into the machine for whatever laundry emergency you forsee, use a top loader. > > #3. No really, are you serious? 😕 \*\* Serious? Yes. ALL machinery for public/private use should have appropriate failsafes and cut-outs. Sympathetic to this woman and her common-sense defying stupidity? Not in the slightest. Would this woman have a case against the proprietors? I dunno, IANA lawyer, if I were to sit on a jury deciding such a case I would be, um, disinclined to see her benefit from her stultifying actions. My own-front loading washing machine starts its cycle when a switch is pulled out, the cycle can be interrupted at any time by depressing this switch. I’ve never had a small child stuck in my washer mid-cycle to know if I am grateful for this mechanism, but it seems a reasonable failsafe, and is one that I have used for other reasons. Commercial interests may be loath to include such a failsafe if it allowed customers to interrupt the cycle, open the door and flood the place. But clearly being able to open the door mid-cycle and being able to interrupt the cycle are two different things. As was observed above, this is an unusual, but not an unheard-of, incident. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/44 "2003-05-26T18:02:26Z")
Think about this for a minute, **The Great Unwashed**. If people in laundrymats are stupid enough to put children in washers, do you _really_ want them to have the power to flood the place??? ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/45 "2003-05-26T18:12:07Z")
I haven’t been to a Laundromat in ages, but we have a front loader at home. For the first ten minutes, you can stop the cycle and add a garment. The washer does not fill up with water immediately, it rolls one way - a little water is added, it rolls the other way - a little more water is added. In the first ten minutes or so, there is not enough water inside to flood anything. Plenty of time to stop the machine and get someone out. There is also a pause/cancel button. I’ve never used it, but I assume that when it is pushed all action stops and the machine is drained. ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/46 "2003-05-26T18:24:18Z")
The child is in stable and guarded condition. Mother is in jail. [http://www.sacbee.com/state\_wire/story/6735683p-7686857c.html](http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/6735683p-7686857c.html) ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/47 "2003-05-26T20:13:57Z")
Thanks for the update/link, **FairyDust**. It’ll be interesting to see how the investigation goes. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/48 "2003-05-26T20:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > “I don’t believe what the camera says,” the girl’s grandmother, Mary Osborne, told KCBS-TV > [@](#): > > “She wouldn’t do anything like that. That’s not Erma,” neighbor John Herring told the TV station. “She’s a nice, loving mother who takes care of her kids.” Look, you stupid shmucks, SHE WAS CAUGHT ON VIDEO! You have SERIOUS denial problems if you really believe what you’re quoted as saying. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/49 "2003-05-26T21:00:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zette \* > \*\*So, no one could pull the plug on the machine and open the door? \*\* Nope. When you cut the power, the machine door still will not open until the water drains, which can be anywhere from five minutes to fifteen minutes. ---
**Author:** ![BeatenMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@BeatenMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeatenMan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/50 "2003-05-26T21:59:36Z")
I think we are only hearing half the story. Over time the whole story will… COME OUT IN THE WASH. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/51 "2003-05-26T23:03:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by roadrunner70 \* > **…mechanical machinery…** As opposed to that other kind of machinery. Sorry, couldn’t resist; agree with your sentiments though; putting kid in machine = really stupid, even in jest. ---
**Author:** ![Jurhael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@Jurhael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurhael)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/52 "2003-05-27T06:08:25Z")
How about this batch of stupidity? [http://beta.kpix.com/news/bcn/2003/05/22/n/HeadlineNews/DROWNING-BUCKET.html](http://beta.kpix.com/news/bcn/2003/05/22/n/HeadlineNews/DROWNING-BUCKET.html) A little boy drowned in a bucket. This was in San Jose. Could this be the same mother that allowed the girl in the washing machine? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/53 "2003-05-27T09:34:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lezlers \* > \*\*Think about this for a minute, **The Great Unwashed**. > > If people in laundrymats are stupid enough to put children in washers, do you _really_ want them to have the power to flood the place??? \*\* I don’t know what you mean – it’s not a question of what _I want_; if it was I’d like to live in a world with no stupid people. Anyway… > [@](#): > > _From my post_ > **But clearly being able to open the door mid-cycle and being able to interrupt the cycle are two different things** I think that at the very least the power and progress through the cycle should be interruptable, I don’t insist that the customers then be able to open the doors and flood the place, but there ought to be a means to do such, say a key carried by a supervisor. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/54 "2003-05-27T10:48:46Z")
Why does someone by the name of **The Great Unwashed** care one way or the other about washing machines? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/55 "2003-05-27T13:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*I don’t know what you mean – it’s not a question of what _I want_; if it was I’d like to live in a world with no stupid people. > > Anyway… > > I think that at the very least the power and progress through the cycle should be interruptable, I don’t insist that the customers then be able to open the doors and flood the place, but there ought to be a means to do such, say a key carried by a supervisor. \*\* Most laundromats I have been to do not have anyone working in them, other than the guy who comes to fill up the change machine and collect the quarters. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/56 "2003-05-27T14:12:31Z")
And I can only imagine the _flood_ of lawsuits if little Jimmy were to open a machine mid cycle and get scalded with hot water. The point is no matter what failsafes we put in, human stupidity will always trump them. It simply becomes a matter of how many failsafes are practically needed in a situation, and that is obviously debatable. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/57 "2003-05-27T14:38:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*And I can only imagine the _flood_ of lawsuits if little Jimmy were to open a machine mid cycle and get scalded with hot water. > > The point is no matter what failsafes we put in, human stupidity will always trump them. It simply becomes a matter of how many failsafes are practically needed in a situation, and that is obviously debatable. \*\* Not once have I suggested that a machine, stopped mid-cycle, should be openable by the patrons, your example of a poor scalded little Jimmy being one reason why this may not necessarily be a good idea. But the capacity to turn something off is not some _ooh-think-of-expense, the-worlds-gone-mad, nanny-state-inspired rocket science_, it’s just common sense. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/58 "2003-05-27T14:53:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*But the capacity to turn something off is not some _ooh-think-of-expense, the-worlds-gone-mad, nanny-state-inspired rocket science_, it’s just common sense. \*\* To retrofit millions of washing machines at god knows what expense because _one_ stupid bitch put her kid in the washer might very well indicate that the world has gone mad. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/59 "2003-05-27T15:19:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*To retrofit millions of washing machines at god knows what expense because _one_ stupid bitch put her kid in the washer might very well indicate that the world has gone mad. > > YMMV \*\* No, you’re getting your tenses mixed up, I’m talking about what _should_ have been, some design decision was taken to not provide a mechanism to disable the machine. Such a mechanism should have been fitted in the first instance (and possibly was, then retro-removed (at what cost?)), not only to guard against the abjectly stupid but for more mundane scenarios, say a machine catching fire, or a machine becoming unanchored and careening around the laundromat during its spin-cycle. I repeat, _an idiot might suggest that potentially dangerous machinery does not require a method to disengage it, any takers?_ ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401/60 "2003-05-27T16:14:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*No, you’re getting your tenses mixed up, I’m talking about what _should_ have been, some design decision was taken to not provide a mechanism to disable the machine. \*\* Perhaps the correct decision was made too. \*\* > [@](#): > > Such a mechanism should have been fitted in the first instance (and possibly was, then retro-removed (at what cost?))\*\* If that’s the case, I’m sure there is some evidence of the “great washer recall” you would be more then happy to provide for me. \*\* > [@](#): > > , not only to guard against the abjectly stupid but for more mundane scenarios,\*\* And oh so common scenarios, such as… \*\* > [@](#): > > say a machine catching fire, \*\* Just in case you need instant access to the inside of a machine filled with water, to ummm… pure more water into it. \*\* > [@](#): > > or a machine becoming unanchored and careening around the laundromat during its spin-cycle. \*\* Which of course having instant access to the inside of the machine being a key compenent to stopping it. (try pulling out the fucking plug) \*\* > [@](#): > > I repeat, _an idiot might suggest that potentially dangerous machinery does not require a method to disengage it, any takers?_ \*\* A washing machine is a potentially dangerous machine? You must be smoking crack. I’m sure toothpicks or cottonballs kill a few people every year, so we should look into making those safer as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-puts-2-year-old-in-washing-machine-wtf/177401.md?page=4)