this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
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[–] [email protected] 56 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

This reminds me of 5th grade when a friend had a sledding accident and damaged his skull from a tree impact. He had to get a helicopter rescue to the ER and everything. Our thoughtful teacher got the class to make "get well" cards. Mine had a crappy kid drawing of the blood and wreckage with the words "I hope the sled is okay!"

The teacher was quite unhappy with me over that. But I knew my friend and when he got back from the hospital he said my card was his favorite and it cracked him up <3

[–] TheBat 26 points 9 months ago

I don't know your friend but I'm pretty sure it was the sledding accident that cracked him up.

[–] Gingerlegs 26 points 9 months ago (1 children)

She’s sad about the toaster, ya see

[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Wow I really should go to bed. I thought the toaster was married to the bread and they were both mourning their dead spouses.

[–] AquaTofana 10 points 9 months ago

Okay the comic made me laugh, and then this made me laugh harder.

[–] LemmyKnowsBest 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Ok but seriously are there any sources citing anyone ever committing s*icide via toaster in bathtub? What is the origin of this trope?

[–] ladicius 20 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's nearly impossible with modern electric installations, fuses and what not. In the olden times it happened quite often as an accident, most often with hair dryers used when still sitting in the bath. (Don't ask me why people were so dumb.)

I suppose death by toaster always was a suicide as drying your hair with a toaster is very, very impractical.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Even without modern things like ground fault interrupts and fuses it would be pretty hard to actually get a shock you would die from in a bathtub. Water by itself isn't actually that conductive, it's the impurities that conduct the electricity. Now you could argue that a bath a person has sat in probably has a lot of salts from the body and maybe some kind of bath soap with a lot of salt in it. But still it will be hard to get an electric shock enough to kill. Usually when someone dies from electric shock, it's because the heart gets interrupted and doesn't resume the normal function. The brain dies from lack of oxygen. In a bathtub the normal flow of electricity would be from the toaster to the drain which is normally earthed, either directly (modern installation) or indirectly (old installation). There would be no reason for the electricity to go trough the body, as the body is at the same electric potential as the rest of the water. Let's assume the water isn't grounded in any way, a fully plastic tub without an earthed drain or taps. Then the most direct path for the electricity is to go from the hot line to the neutral line. This will probably mostly go trough the heating element, but a part will also go through the salty water. The water in between the two sides of the toaster will get heating and may even boil, plus the heating element will degrade due to the reaction, but outside the toaster the water won't be affected much or at all. The hot water would be more dangerous than the electricity. If the person were to be close to the hot and neutral sides of the toaster at the same time, maybe it would be enough to kill? Most likely it would be enough to cramp up the muscles in the arms, but probably not enough to stop a heart.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it would be pretty hard.

Plus we've all seen the BigClive vids where he puts his hands in salty water with electric mains in it.

[–] trashgirlfriend 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I imagine the more likely way you'd die in that situation isn't from the shock directly but due to being stunned/paralyzed/disoriented and drown in the bath.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Maybe, but on the other hand: https://youtu.be/dcrY59nGxBg

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

There's a scene from James Bond, where he throws a space heater in a bathtub to electrocute a foe. I guess that cemented the idea that you could be killed in that manner.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

Expectations status: subverted

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)
[–] Kethal 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

This community is dominated by what seems like a new variant of boomer comics. There aren't really any punchlines or jokes, just self serving commentary.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

It's a just an idea of subverting the drama expectation from a common trope, not so much a social commentary.

[–] NatakuNox -2 points 9 months ago

She was married to a sentient toaster dumbass. So in her eyes her husband was involved in a murder suicide tragedy.

[–] Zok 5 points 9 months ago

Average Japanese wife when her husband retires from job

[–] NatakuNox 4 points 9 months ago

This is the end to the Brave little toaster we all wanted to see

[–] WhereGrapesMayRule 3 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago
[–] ladicius 1 points 9 months ago

It's onion bread.

[–] MxM111 -1 points 9 months ago

Double murder.