Warning: Hot Bulb!

bulbs are hot. well, incandescent and halogen bulbs are. that is, if they have been turned on for a while. often in the lighting shop, a member of the public will take me over to a light and tell me it's really hot. my usual reply is to say "it's a light, that's been on for hours".

"surely it shouldn't be that hot, my lights at home aren't that hot", is the customers usual response.

obviously the customer believes what they are saying, but is it possible that we humans have poor temperature memories as well as a poor memory for colour?
i find it difficult to believe that at home, so many people spend their time touching lights and hot bulbs. of course they don't; at home we know that bulbs are hot, but when we go into a shopping outlet the same rules don't seem to apply. people like to touch goods before they buy, they want to feel the weight, they want to feel if it's a quality product or not, (they also like to open up a box check that it's all there, then take another unopened box,leaving a mess for someone else to tidy, but i'll leave that rant for another day) and often they are surprised that it is warm or hot.

it can also be a little misleading, that there can be hot bulb signs and the lights aren't actually hot. if that is the case, it may have started out with an incandescent 'hot' bulb, but a customer or shop worker has changed it for an energy saving light bulb and not removed the red warning triangle. the customer, having read the sign hot bulb, rather than be put off by this warning, is often compelled like a moth to a flame, to touch said hot bulb. filled with false bravado that the bulb is not hot then goes on to test more bulbs.
this course of action again usually results in "here mate, that light's hot".

bulbboy's friend succumbed to his desire to touch a hot light, and felt a sudden yearning for an ice-cream cone. two actually, one to eat and one to soothe his burnt finger. another department of our shop sells ice-cream cones. could there be a management conspiracy by the management to sell more ice-cream cones?

*hmmm................bulbboy wonders*