So I'll explain the "minuterie"
It was in my French textbook, but I of course completely forgot about everything in the textbook over the summer. A minuterie is a timed light: basically, hit the switch, and the light will stay on for several minutes before automatically turning off.
Coming from a country where the lights in the...foyer(?)(you know you're screwed when you don't even know the word in English) are left on all night, seeing the minuterie as a way to save power makes sense.
The thing that bothers me (a little) is that you can't turn it off. It has to shut itself off, which I feel is counterproductive to the "save energy" cause. I feel like it could be changed very easily.
If the button is hit once
lights on
If the button is hit again while the lights are on or it's been the certain amount of time
lights off
I'm not raging against it, nor dying to start an anti-minuterie crusade, don't interpret the former paragraph that way.
But there's a reason why it saves energy. I didn't consider it at first, being in a house, but I had an epiphany.
In the neighborhood in which my host families live, houses can have up to 5 floors. Very tall houses, to a girl used to seeing houses that only had 2 floors.
The stairs, at least in my host family's house, are...wonky, to say the least (this is relevant, I have a point). Usually stairs are straight, smooth, and even, right? It took me a couple of days to get used to them, but the stairs here are crooked and bent. They're also in a spiral to the third floor, so there are those awkward triangle corner ones, too. All the steps are tilted toward the center of the spiral, so (point:) having a light on while going up/down the stairs is a necessity needed so I don't break my neck.
You all know that heart-stopping "WHOA!" feeling when you thought there was/wasn't an extra step, and then there wasn't/was, and then you lurch forward/backward. If not, go up/down your stairs in the dark without counting or feeling the number of steps there are.
Anyways, the reason why the number of floors and the wonkyness of the stairs is relevant to the minuterie. Suppose 'Paul' enters an apartment building in France. Trying to lose weight, he takes the spiral stairs instead of the elevator and turns on the stair lights. Then, 'Anne' exits her apartment and sees that the stair lights are on. Thinking that she is saving energy, she turns off the stair lights and enters an elevator. Paul, not expecting the sudden darkness, lurches backward because he forgot a step and breaks his neck from falling.
MINUTERIES SAVE LIVES.
Ahh, now you could say, "Oh, well then people should just turn off the lights when they're done, so that other people know that when the lights are on, to not turn them off because someone is still using the light."
Problem with that: Maybe if Paul finally did get all the way upstairs to his apartment, 'James' enters the building and needs the lights on. Paul thinks, 'oh, I'm done, I can turn the lights off. Yay,' but James still needs them!!
There are usually minuteries on each floor.
Disclaimer: I am getting my facts based on my experience and my logical imagination.
But there's a reason why it saves energy. I didn't consider it at first, being in a house, but I had an epiphany.
In the neighborhood in which my host families live, houses can have up to 5 floors. Very tall houses, to a girl used to seeing houses that only had 2 floors.
The stairs, at least in my host family's house, are...wonky, to say the least (this is relevant, I have a point). Usually stairs are straight, smooth, and even, right? It took me a couple of days to get used to them, but the stairs here are crooked and bent. They're also in a spiral to the third floor, so there are those awkward triangle corner ones, too. All the steps are tilted toward the center of the spiral, so (point:) having a light on while going up/down the stairs is a necessity needed so I don't break my neck.
You all know that heart-stopping "WHOA!" feeling when you thought there was/wasn't an extra step, and then there wasn't/was, and then you lurch forward/backward. If not, go up/down your stairs in the dark without counting or feeling the number of steps there are.
Anyways, the reason why the number of floors and the wonkyness of the stairs is relevant to the minuterie. Suppose 'Paul' enters an apartment building in France. Trying to lose weight, he takes the spiral stairs instead of the elevator and turns on the stair lights. Then, 'Anne' exits her apartment and sees that the stair lights are on. Thinking that she is saving energy, she turns off the stair lights and enters an elevator. Paul, not expecting the sudden darkness, lurches backward because he forgot a step and breaks his neck from falling.
MINUTERIES SAVE LIVES.
Ahh, now you could say, "Oh, well then people should just turn off the lights when they're done, so that other people know that when the lights are on, to not turn them off because someone is still using the light."
Problem with that: Maybe if Paul finally did get all the way upstairs to his apartment, 'James' enters the building and needs the lights on. Paul thinks, 'oh, I'm done, I can turn the lights off. Yay,' but James still needs them!!
There are usually minuteries on each floor.
Disclaimer: I am getting my facts based on my experience and my logical imagination.
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