Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Lessons from the Cutlery Drawer

It's nearly time for bed, and as I put the kettle on I realised I was a bit peckish. In the tea cupboard I spotted the peanut butter jar and decided a slice of toast and PB would be perfect.

The dishwasher's on, and it runs like an orchestra of crickets. In the cutlery drawer there are no knives, but I don't dare open the churning dishwasher. I snag a tablespoon from the drawer instead. As it turns out, the back of the spoon does a fine job of spreading the smooth peanut butter onto my soy-linseed toast.

No, the peanut butter doesn't look like the Virgin Mary's profile. But it occurs to me that a task usually requires a set tool, skill, or knowledge. You might think that someone without these perks might be at a disadvantage, but with a little creativity, the job can still get done.

It got me thinking: Why do we give up so easily? Why are we so frustrated, so unmovable, so quick to blame failure on our lack of...something? How much have we gained by doing things by trial and error? How much might we as a culture have lost if there was only one solution for every problem?

It isn't about what we have - it's what we do with it that counts.


Blog-off topic of the week: The most important lesson.




Random fact: another name for the runcible spoon, as in the Owl and the Pussycat's "which they ate with a runcible spoon," is a spork! Runcible spoons have three tines and were originally intended to serve chutneys and pickles. Source: Antique Silver Spoons. I always thought that was a made-up word. Hey, I warned you this blog was random!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

*giggles* Wow! Life over a PBJ. And I thought of you this morning when I made mine for breakfast.

LOVE love love your random info! I hope you don't mind if I pass it on to my friends.

Courtney said...

Totally had no idea that a spork was so... old!

Nathan Pralle said...

There's nothing quite like the human spirit for innovation, coupled with creativity, to ensure that, if nothing else, we'll find a curious way to get our spread spread and our food ate. More often than not, experiences like yours (need something, have to make do with something else) have turned into our best inventions and innovations.

In other news, what in the hell is soy-linseed toast and...what are you eating it? :)

 


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