I was recently at a large department store chain that is closing stores across the country and was having a clearance sale. I am always up for a bargain so I decided to take a look around the store. I am a fan of kitchen gadgets and since the first section I walked through was for the kitchen, I perused the selection of the latest and greatest appliances for the kitchen. Insta-pots, air fryers, fancy coffee makers...well you get the idea. It seems like all of these are new to the kitchen in the last 5-10 years and are quite interesting, but something else caught my eye. A tea kettle.
I was recently on a camping trip and brought my stainless steel tea kettle along to heat water over the fire for coffee and hot chocolate. I expected it to turn color over an open fire, but after a couple days use it became apparent that it would enter the camping supply section of my garage and leave the kitchen where it had been so happy in the last couple decades. I guess I pushed the limits of the 'stainless' description and found it to be a fallacy.
All of a sudden, there on the shelf sat a very nice matte black finish tea kettle with a teak wood handle. It was like going to a pet store and one of the furry animals seems to say "I belong in your home". I pictured it sitting on the stove with some water, while listening to it whistle a happy tune of "your water is ready sir".
Alas, the kettle had no box and was the only one of it's kind among several other lesser kettles. I needed the assistance of an associate. I flagged down the first person I saw with a name tag, a younger woman probably in her early 20's. I asked her if she knew the price of the tea kettle. She looked around on the shelf for an empty box or duplicate, while I patiently waited, knowing I had already done a thorough search and could not find one, but also knowing that if I told her I already looked she would still have to search for it herself. After her discovery matched mine, she informed me that there was a UPC code she could scan and get the price for me, to which I replied "Great!"
She then looked at me for what seemed to be several minutes (but was probably seconds) and asked me "would you like me to do that?" Um, I thought that perhaps my enthusiastic response of "great!" was a sufficient response, but sure, please let's do that. As she scanned the kettle, she looked at it curiously and asked me, "What is this for anyway? Do you heat water on the stove with it?"
At first I thought she was kidding, but her bewildered expression gave it away. She was not. I said to her, "It's a tea kettle. Have you never seen one before?" She replied to me, "I have never used one so I don't know what it is." This is the part that both amazes and frustrates me. I have played trivia with people who will say as an excuse for not knowing a question, such as 'when was the first moon landing', that it happened before they were born so how would they know.
I thought to myself.... what a perfect opportunity to pass some wisdom on to the next generation and help mentor our next leaders. I told her I have been through the women's section and although I've never worn a bra I know what it is. I informed her that I was going to give her an important life lesson. "Just because you have not used one does not mean you can't know what it is or does. You should learn what all the gadgets do in your department so you can be the best at what you do. Take some time to learn new things while you are here." I said that with a smile on my face in the most encouraging way I could think of.
Similar to my previous experience, she stared at me for what seemed like minutes (and was probably again just seconds) and asked me, "will that be cash or credit?"
I was recently on a camping trip and brought my stainless steel tea kettle along to heat water over the fire for coffee and hot chocolate. I expected it to turn color over an open fire, but after a couple days use it became apparent that it would enter the camping supply section of my garage and leave the kitchen where it had been so happy in the last couple decades. I guess I pushed the limits of the 'stainless' description and found it to be a fallacy.
All of a sudden, there on the shelf sat a very nice matte black finish tea kettle with a teak wood handle. It was like going to a pet store and one of the furry animals seems to say "I belong in your home". I pictured it sitting on the stove with some water, while listening to it whistle a happy tune of "your water is ready sir".Alas, the kettle had no box and was the only one of it's kind among several other lesser kettles. I needed the assistance of an associate. I flagged down the first person I saw with a name tag, a younger woman probably in her early 20's. I asked her if she knew the price of the tea kettle. She looked around on the shelf for an empty box or duplicate, while I patiently waited, knowing I had already done a thorough search and could not find one, but also knowing that if I told her I already looked she would still have to search for it herself. After her discovery matched mine, she informed me that there was a UPC code she could scan and get the price for me, to which I replied "Great!"
She then looked at me for what seemed to be several minutes (but was probably seconds) and asked me "would you like me to do that?" Um, I thought that perhaps my enthusiastic response of "great!" was a sufficient response, but sure, please let's do that. As she scanned the kettle, she looked at it curiously and asked me, "What is this for anyway? Do you heat water on the stove with it?"
At first I thought she was kidding, but her bewildered expression gave it away. She was not. I said to her, "It's a tea kettle. Have you never seen one before?" She replied to me, "I have never used one so I don't know what it is." This is the part that both amazes and frustrates me. I have played trivia with people who will say as an excuse for not knowing a question, such as 'when was the first moon landing', that it happened before they were born so how would they know.
I thought to myself.... what a perfect opportunity to pass some wisdom on to the next generation and help mentor our next leaders. I told her I have been through the women's section and although I've never worn a bra I know what it is. I informed her that I was going to give her an important life lesson. "Just because you have not used one does not mean you can't know what it is or does. You should learn what all the gadgets do in your department so you can be the best at what you do. Take some time to learn new things while you are here." I said that with a smile on my face in the most encouraging way I could think of.
Similar to my previous experience, she stared at me for what seemed like minutes (and was probably again just seconds) and asked me, "will that be cash or credit?"
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