Have you ever had a “light bulb moment?”

You know, one of those moments when the “light comes on” and you finally understand something that other people seemingly understand without question? I sure have.

But I’m not going to talk about me; I want to tell you about my friends from Nigeria.

I’m going to guess that, like myself, you’re familiar with the use of a dishwasher. Before I lived in a home that had a dishwasher, I was familiar with the basics of its operation. When I moved into an apartment that had one I was thrilled because it meant I no longer had to hand wash every dish; a quick rinse and load would now free me up from some kitchen work. But, back to my friends.

While visiting here in the US, they were introduced to the dishwasher. Our mutual friends were hosting them in their home and every evening included laughter around a table filled with delicious food.

Following the meal on the first night of their visit, my American friend explained the dishwasher’s benefit and use in tackling the abundance of dirty dishes. Yet, each meal was followed with a full sink washing of the dinnerware and then a storage of it in the dishwasher. No matter how many times it was explained, the process of fully washing, drying and then storing the clean dishes in the unit continued.

One afternoon my four friends hopped in the car to run some errands. It was a beautiful sunny day in northern Idaho so the driver decided to run his car through the “drive through” car wash. Like a Disneyland ride, my friends were pulled through the wash to watch pastel colored soap pour down, brushes spinning all around and waterfalls of clean water pouring over their car. Suddenly, my Nigerian friend, in a light bulb moment, announces, “Ohhh, dishwasher!” And then everybody laughed.

From that point on, the dishwasher was used the way it was meant to be used.

I love that story. And I laugh every time I take my own car through the car wash.