Bubusaurus Saves the Day: How I Saved New Dyson from Dumpster and Technophobic Mum from Meltdown.

The backstory started with months of trying to convince my 70+yo Mama 👵🏼 to ditch the old crappy vacuum cleaner for a cordless one. She finally agreed after seeing one at her older sister’s place. Yes, even elderly can be FOMO!

After succumbing to a Dyson hair dryer prior, I was convinced that a Dyson vacuum is worth the splurge. I waited and managed to score a good deal on a Dyson V8 Fluffy during 11.11 sale last year.

After assembling it for Mama, I patiently and repeatedly demonstrated the mechanics of the vacuum cleaner to her. She even promised to read the instruction book in her own time. (She lied!)

One day I came home to Mama’s cries of frustration, slumped over the Dyson on the kitchen floor. The crisis was that she just could not open the vacuum bin to clear the debris. “Nothing works” she wailed!

The thing with the Dyson was that it needed a bit of force to dislodge the “latch” that opened the bottom of the bin. But Mama being the typical “scared” elderly, was very gentle with the latch as she was afraid to spoil it. She tried for hours ( or days?) but to no avail. Hence she was so frustrated that she wanted to throw it away!

This was when I realised that the real issue wasn't Dyson's complicated usage. But rather Mama's memory was failing and she couldn’t remember the steps from just watching me do it. So I showed her again and forced her to repeat the motion herself for a few times until she got it. I also made her write the steps on a label to paste on the vacuum stand.

To make it even easier for Mama, I went on Youtube and found a Dyson demonstration video. After watching the Youtube video, she asked me if I have the same vacuum cleaner in my office. I asked her why she thinks so? Because Mama thought I made the video in the office for her! LOL

Plot twist…. The man in the video was a Caucasian uncle!! 🤣

After 6 months, I’m proud to report that Mama has now mastered the Dyson 💯 and threw away the old vacuum cleaner instead!

PS: Friends who heard this story last year asked me to tell them the next time Mama wanna throw away the Dyson…. so that they can pick it up from my void deck!