The image of the man who’s useless at doing household chores is a bit of an outdated cliché these days…or is it? Lots of fellahs may see themselves as Mr Modern Man doing their fair share but their partners may beg to differ.
Well lads, if you’re not sure what the difference is between a mixer and a blender, or if you think your clothes and dishes mysteriously wash themselves overnight, we might have just the thing for you.
Michael Gibson from Co Meath in Ireland noticed that no one was bothering to put a new toilet roll on the holder in his house. Well, it’s an easy enough task isn’t it, but Michael thought a bit of humour might shame family members into action, so he created a set of videos explaining how to do simple household tasks.
So, want to know how to pack a dishwasher? Michael has a video. Ever wondered how people’s shirts look so smooth and crisp? Sit back and let Michael introduce you to the magical workings of a strange machine called an ‘iron’.
Michael told breakingnews.ie: “I’ve about a dozen made so far. It’s just a bit of craic really but the reaction has been brilliant.
“The real reason I started was I went into the bathroom and there was no toilet roll on the holder but loads of rolls around the floor so it was really just to get at some of my own family to replace a toilet roll properly.
“However, I went out for a walk and these two women who had seen the video shouted over, asking me to fill a dishwasher so they could get a dig at members of their own family.
“It’s all tongue-in-cheek and even I’m learning! After I made one about putting the clothes in the laundry bin, the kids reminded me that I’m the worst in the world for leaving my socks on the floor.
“There are a lot of people, especially men who used to be gone to work from 6am and only home at 7pm and they are in lockdown now and only realising that they are pretty much useless when it comes to a lot of household chores.
“How many times is the dishwasher not filled properly or the bin is emptied but a new liner is never replaced?
“It’s all the little things so now they can watch the videos and find out how to do things – or how to not to do them as the case may be.”
The humour is lovely and no doubt a lot of overworked mums across the world will welcome the not-so-gentle reminder to family members to do their share but there’s more to it than that.
Michael hopes the videos will help people who suffer with mental health issues not to sit around the house and over-think things but to find something to do, even in jest.
“I set up a Facebook page over a year ago called the Lemonade Kart to share my story of depression in the hope of encouraging others to speak out. I’ve suffered from depression since the age of 11 and there’s still a lot of stigma associated with mental health. I had everyone fooled for so long that there was nothing wrong – I was one of the best actors you’d ever meet.
“I’d go into work and put on the performance of a lifetime. Then I’d go home, take that mask off, get into bed and pull the duvet over my head.
“It’s important, especially now when everyone will feel a bit down some days in lockdown to get out, get doing something, have fun and talk to someone.”
Here’s Michael in action explaining the wonders of a thing called an iron. We’re not sure what it does but it seems to get very hot and steamy. Handle with care.
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