Fitting a toothbrush holder
Fitting a toothbrush holder should be a straightforward job but not so in Thailand, or at least sometimes. A typical Thai wife having a relative who knows how to do this job, for a small monetary reward, or free meal of course. This particular toothbrush holder was to be fitted above the sink in the bathroom, so it was placed in a very hand location for dental attention duties when required.
The Thai man is shown what to do, where to do it, given the tools to do the job and left to get on with it. Some 20 minutes later, he is pleased with his efforts and reports back to his sister that he has completed the job as requested. Off go the expat and his Thai wife to the bathroom to inspect the workmanship only to discover that the toothbrush holder was positioned just one inches from the top of the sink. This meant that any time a toothbrush was placed in the holder, and thanks to the laws of applied mechanics and gravity, the toothbrush would fall out. The error was pointed out to the brother, who humbly wai'd by way of an apology and said he would correct it.
Left to his own devices once again (always fatal), he goes back to the sister some 15 minutes later, declaring that he had solved the problem. What he actually did, instead of removing the toothbrush holder and re-positioning it, he simply cut the toothbrushes down to a length where they would not fall out of the toothbrush holder!
The Thai man is shown what to do, where to do it, given the tools to do the job and left to get on with it. Some 20 minutes later, he is pleased with his efforts and reports back to his sister that he has completed the job as requested. Off go the expat and his Thai wife to the bathroom to inspect the workmanship only to discover that the toothbrush holder was positioned just one inches from the top of the sink. This meant that any time a toothbrush was placed in the holder, and thanks to the laws of applied mechanics and gravity, the toothbrush would fall out. The error was pointed out to the brother, who humbly wai'd by way of an apology and said he would correct it.
Left to his own devices once again (always fatal), he goes back to the sister some 15 minutes later, declaring that he had solved the problem. What he actually did, instead of removing the toothbrush holder and re-positioning it, he simply cut the toothbrushes down to a length where they would not fall out of the toothbrush holder!