Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
I know we all have tools etc that we have bought and never used. I can understand the genuine collector even thought i am not one.
But my mystery i am looking to get insight into today is not related to tools of woodworking but to wives and crockery.
This October i will have been married 22 years.
When we got married we both had crockery that we got to use for our house. Shortly after I got my wife to buy with my urging whilst in the store a new dinner set. That set has long gone. Not long after being married on a trip to Budapest, Hungry (when the iron curtain just opened up) i purchased a pretty expensive dinner service made by a renowned Hungarian manufacturer. I schlepped this set home to South Africa without it breaking. We talking a full set this is the only pic i can find of the full set. In actual fact there are more pieces in it that in that picture. Incl candle stick holders. So you get the idea.
I wanted her to have nice set given she likes entertaining at home and setting a full table. So i did and do not expect her to use it each day although frankly I would not mind.
When i noticed the set we bought together getting shabby as with all tai chi cheap sets (she would not let me buy anything better at the time) the day came when i decided to just go out and buy something that she had talked about but would never buy. Knowing her i made sure to get two sets at the time so as to cater for breakages. I came home and thought ok now we can get rid of the stuff we have and eat off a nice plate.
No ways. What was done is to get rid of the tai chi stuff and bring out some stoneware set that i had as a bachelor. Once in a blue moon she will bring out the new set or use them when we have company if the Zsolnay set is not being used.
So I do the dish washing in this house we in (its so darn old it dont have a dishwasher or space for one ) and i got to thinking why is it that woman do this. heck i am 56 now what are we waiting for I definitely am not waiting for any special occasion to use these plates. When i ask her about it she says the "new" set which is now about 6 -8 years old is too good for everyday use.
Now i could understand this mentality on the part of my Yorkshire mothers generation saving the best for the vicar to have tea on but who/what is the thinking here? These are NOT collector pieces and when she offered one of her sets to the oldest son who has moved out he declined them which put her nose out of joint for a while.
I know she is not alone in this ( "lost for a word to insert") quest is it a condition all woman are born with? Are there any men here with the same traits towards hording those dinner services for i dont know who to eat on if ever?
My current solution is planning of a stealth Ninja style sudden disappearance of the current set by that i mean packing them up one day and taking them to salvation army and being done with them, facing the music and consequences and letting her get over it.
anyone else living with i lost count of how many boxes of porcelain we got in our household? . Thinking of starting an "old dinner service phobia" support group.
Of course there is always the option of natural attrition by accidentally breaking one every now and then while hand washing and claiming its an age thing. BUt that to me is a waste and someone else less fortunate could get some use out of them. I am just tired with storing things for use later. WHEN???? at 105 when i am drinking hydraulic nutrition sandwiches from a sippy cup.
I have often wondered if we had a banana tree again, in our backyard whether we would be eating off leaves to save the plates. Poor things.
But my mystery i am looking to get insight into today is not related to tools of woodworking but to wives and crockery.
This October i will have been married 22 years.
When we got married we both had crockery that we got to use for our house. Shortly after I got my wife to buy with my urging whilst in the store a new dinner set. That set has long gone. Not long after being married on a trip to Budapest, Hungry (when the iron curtain just opened up) i purchased a pretty expensive dinner service made by a renowned Hungarian manufacturer. I schlepped this set home to South Africa without it breaking. We talking a full set this is the only pic i can find of the full set. In actual fact there are more pieces in it that in that picture. Incl candle stick holders. So you get the idea.
I wanted her to have nice set given she likes entertaining at home and setting a full table. So i did and do not expect her to use it each day although frankly I would not mind.
When i noticed the set we bought together getting shabby as with all tai chi cheap sets (she would not let me buy anything better at the time) the day came when i decided to just go out and buy something that she had talked about but would never buy. Knowing her i made sure to get two sets at the time so as to cater for breakages. I came home and thought ok now we can get rid of the stuff we have and eat off a nice plate.
No ways. What was done is to get rid of the tai chi stuff and bring out some stoneware set that i had as a bachelor. Once in a blue moon she will bring out the new set or use them when we have company if the Zsolnay set is not being used.
So I do the dish washing in this house we in (its so darn old it dont have a dishwasher or space for one ) and i got to thinking why is it that woman do this. heck i am 56 now what are we waiting for I definitely am not waiting for any special occasion to use these plates. When i ask her about it she says the "new" set which is now about 6 -8 years old is too good for everyday use.
Now i could understand this mentality on the part of my Yorkshire mothers generation saving the best for the vicar to have tea on but who/what is the thinking here? These are NOT collector pieces and when she offered one of her sets to the oldest son who has moved out he declined them which put her nose out of joint for a while.
I know she is not alone in this ( "lost for a word to insert") quest is it a condition all woman are born with? Are there any men here with the same traits towards hording those dinner services for i dont know who to eat on if ever?
My current solution is planning of a stealth Ninja style sudden disappearance of the current set by that i mean packing them up one day and taking them to salvation army and being done with them, facing the music and consequences and letting her get over it.
anyone else living with i lost count of how many boxes of porcelain we got in our household? . Thinking of starting an "old dinner service phobia" support group.
Of course there is always the option of natural attrition by accidentally breaking one every now and then while hand washing and claiming its an age thing. BUt that to me is a waste and someone else less fortunate could get some use out of them. I am just tired with storing things for use later. WHEN???? at 105 when i am drinking hydraulic nutrition sandwiches from a sippy cup.
I have often wondered if we had a banana tree again, in our backyard whether we would be eating off leaves to save the plates. Poor things.