The 'other day', I purchased a new (ya, cheepy) toaster and coffee maker to replace the aging workhorses in my kitchen 'stable'. The old ones had their ideosyncracies; you know, over time you begin to comprehend just the right settings to toast, etc. The old toaster was a 4-slicer that was missing both of the push-down handles (where they disappeared to, I have no idear), and was semi-melted on one of the adjuster slides. Coffee pot was decent, but I had somehow knocked the carafe off the coffee maker, when a shelf felled a bunch of crap. Tell you the truth, I had no qualms with that (relatively new) coffee maker, plus, it had any/all features I would use.
Anyways, I setup these newb tools, and encountered the agony of cheesiness. The toaster burnt everything I fed it, unless it was turned almost off, and the coffee maker was virtually un-pourable, save for the most slow and adept of pouring. I got to thinking--maybe they needed to put some different 'slogans' or marketing tools on the box, so that one could savor the daily hassles to come:
**Coffee Maker: "Now with easy-spill carafe" or maybe, "Reservoir-filling challenge game built in to help develop patience and shoulder muscles!" and "Stays on ALL day to get that burnt-coffee taste you crave" or perhaps, "great for people who don't like coffee".
**Toaster: "Now burns every size and shape of bread or pastry more evenly", or "Built-in toaster-challenge adjuster--bet you can't get it right", or maybe "Dogs love it". Mayhap an advisory like "caution: fire hazard--do not leave toaster unattended at any time + not recommended for anyone who can't stand over the toaster to watch it at ALL TIMES". Perhaps a disclaimer: "If your setting is too high, some discoloration of food may occur. However, it's not 'burnt', its just well-browned (one of Gma's old sayings). I thought an additional tool would be well-advised for inclusion, in-box (some kind of after-burn scraper).
So, anyways, I can't bitch too much; these two items together cost me only about $16 and change, and a few slices of unusable bread, thusfar. However, the daily hassle stress alone may push me past the brink of madness a bit sooner than I would like...What's that? What do you mean, 'you get what you pay for'? Lol.
