the sound and the fury

when i was in elementary school, we used to take a field trip to the zoo every year. there were two main attractions for me, and nothing else really mattered. sure, i enjoyed the animals and what not, but for young joey, the zoo was the cave and the earthquake machine. the cave doesn't require much explanation, but let me spend some time describing the glories that were the earthquake machine. it all started with an audio tour of what earthquakes are, famous ones, etc. as you stepped onto the epicenter, you were surrounded by scrims that showed images from some of the famous earthquakes that have ravaged various civilizations throughout history. the epicenter was a circular platform about 3'-4' in diameter with hand rails on all sides. after both the audio tour and scrim-show ended, one was left in an eerie quiet. soon one felt what might be described as a slight tremble. this continued to escalate until you were embroiled in full scale chaos accompanied by horrific sounds and images through the aid of audio and scrim technology. at this point you repentantly thanked God for the handrails. just when you thought you might actually die, everything stopped. that's when you got back in line.
while that was all a pleasant jaunt down memory lane, i told the story for a reason.
my wife and i recently moved into a duplex that is somewhere between 60 and 70 years old. it has beautiful hardwood floors, arched doorways, a covered porch, etc. it also has plumbing and washer/dryer hook-ups that date as far back as the house itself. we bought a used washer/dryer from a friend, and finally got them in the house and hooked up. after a long saga that i will spare you involving leakage, all day repairs to the hook-ups, and much sweat and blood on the part of our friendly handyman; it was time to wash some clothes...
i went through the usual motions of loading clothes, adding detergent, etc. and selected my desired settings. i pushed the button and then experienced something from my past, something very familiar, an eerie quiet. then what sounded like a gentle rain followed by a storm of biblical proportions. suddenly i was back in 2nd grade, standing on the epicenter, feeling that gentle trembling-desperately searching for handrails and, finding none, fearing that God might be dead. as i held onto the sides of my washer while it began to writhe beneath me, a new, unfamiliar element appeared. a volcanic eruption of dirty suds-water sprayed out from the drain behind, complicating the whole mess. eventually i was able to regain control of the earthquake/volcano by shutting the beast down and taming it to do my bidding.
though there was no scrim-show, no audio tour, i visited the zoo again tonight. this time, however, i will not be getting back in line.