Last Thursday, I read a report that indicated that Samsung branded washing machines may explode. I sat down for lunch next to Nathan, who had his headphones in and was working on statistics homework. I didn’t say anything. A few minutes later, Thomas sat down, and the washing machine incident was the first thing I told him.

“Samsung has had it rough this week,” he told me.

“Yes, yes, I know the phone thing, but washing machines.”

The main difference, we decided, was the method in which the devices were used. You lift a phone up to your face, but you don’t life a washing machine up to your face. Thomas smiled, “I bet the world’s strongest man could lift up a washing machine.”

I told him that the world’s second and third strongest men could lift up the washing machine. He said that was besides the point and I looped back to the fact that the 127th and 128th strongest men in the world could lift up a washing machine.

“In fact,” I said, “the world’s strongest man could probably lift up two washing machines.” We played off of each other until we came to a scenario that we most assuredly disagreed on. Imagine that the world’s strongest man was standing in between two washing machines. Each machine has wet clothes in it — the loads had been approximately 75% full, a mixture of random clothes, and had finished the cycle within the last five minutes. If the world’s strongest man were to stick each arm through the open door and curl his arms (and the washing machines) upward, so the loading area was facing directly downwards, would some of the clothes fall out?

In our opposite opinions, we both believed we were right. I argued that at least a sock would fall out and Thomas failed to convince me that the clothes would be stuck to the side. Nathan looked up once with a confused expression on his face, “What are you guys talking about?”

We continued to bicker until I left for work and Nathan left for lab. It probably would’ve ended there, had Nathan not gotten involved, but with a goodbye of, “Thomas, you’re an idiot,” he ensured that we would both attempt to find people to agree with us.

Most people came up with a split second answer. In fact, Chili was one of the only people who took the question seriously, saying: “Depends on whether or not the washers ran a spin cycle or not… A ‘full’ load of dry clothing is brought down to half of that after getting compressed in a spin cycle, so if the washers did have this cycle then there would be more than enough room for clothes to fall out though the center!”

The current statistics rest at this —
Will fall: 8
Won’t fall: 2
There’s a 50/50 chance: 1
“You and Thomas are both ridiculous, this isn’t important at all.”: 2

Please submit your opinions to trgraham@pugetsound.edu.