Cheese Toastie, anyone?

It is a constant source of amazement to me how M-I-L has managed to stay alive this long given her inability to observe, or even comprehend basic safety measures.

I went into the kitchen and found a Breville electric sandwich toaster soaking, fully submersed, in the kitchen sink (thankfully not still plugged in!)

When I asked what the bejasus it was doing in there, she replied that she was soaking it to get some burned-on cheese off it.

I suggested that basic common sense probably dictated that you didn't submerge electrical appliances in a bowl of water. She looked somewhat bemused and asked why not. I pointed out the obvious reasons and the fact that the instruction leaflets that come with all things electrical always include safety advice to that end.

Her reply, clearly indicating that she thought she'd outfoxed me was "Ahh, well I haven't read the instruction leaflet", to which my intentionally over-theatrical response was "Thank God for that, it'll be alright then as long as you haven't read them".

Maybe I can persuade her to plug it in and take it into the bath with her next time she's in there. But then again, I'm sure the safety instructions tell you not to do that as well and, as I now know, she hasn't read them.