A light bulb is not a light bulb not a light bulb

For those who think I think everything in Europe is perfect, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. Frustrations with small details can vary and from country to country and one that supplies regular aggravation to me here is light bulbs.

Yes light bulbs.

Having worked for two standardization organizations, I hate, yes hate, the fact that light bulbs have different bases.

In my tiny studio there are five possibilities. Only three are shown in the photo. I didn’t bother to pull out the neon bathroom light nor unscrew the bulb in my halogen lamp I use for needlework.

And those are not all the choices. The little track light bulb with its cute little stool attachments could have two needle size points or three. Not all stores carry all types, so it is often necessary to go on light bulb safaris to find the correct one to enable me to see after dark.

I suppose I should be grateful I have at least learned the word for light bulb, ampule… When I lived in Toulouse before my French was much beyond bonjour and avez vous…I needed to replace a bulb. I found a clerk and tried…Avez-vous…avez-vous…avez-vous but I didn’t know what came next so I started to act out reading a book, not being able to see, going to a wall to switch on a light switch and nothing happening.

The clerk looked at me, laughed and said in perfect English, “You want a light bulb?” and led me to a large bank. I grabbed the nearest got home and it was then that I discovered that God did not make all light bulbs the same. It has been downhill since then and I am in still in dark to figure out why it has to be so complicated. Maybe somebody can shed some light on the matter.