"There's a Hole in the Bucket"

When you reach a certain age, you begin to realize that a great many of the things you own, you've had for DECADES!  And a great many of those "old things" relate to cooking and kitchens.  Now I am not talking about family heirlooms or antiques, nope, I'm talking about the wooden spoons, or steak knives, or measuring cups, or flour sifters.  You acquire them early on, use them almost daily, and they just go along forever.  You rarely need to replace them, they are the stalwarts of your kitchen.

One of the gifts the Big Guy and I received for our wedding, was from my aunt and uncle.  It was an enormous box (about 3x2x2) filled to the brim with the "stuff" newlyweds would need.  There were a gazillion things in it including a napkin holder, a soap dish, a bath mat, salt and pepper shakers, a punch bowl, ladle, and cups, dish towels, just about every kitchen gadget ever made (some of which I didn't have a clue about what it was!), there was a welcome mat, a Kleenex box cover, a couple of mixing bowls, a thing to hang on the wall to hold keys, mail, stamps, and what-have-you, a feather duster, and more!  Each item was individually wrapped and it took forever to unwrap and get through it all. That box contained the most immediately and permanently useful gifts we got!  It was a riot opening it.  We have been using a lot of that stuff ever since!

One of the things we got the most use out of was a dark green plastic bowl.  About the size of a smallish salad bowl, it has been used a lot over the years.  It has held bunches of grapes or cherries.  It was a good bowl for marinating things in, as it wasn't porous and didn't stain.  It made a great bowl for putting a snack on the table when the family was playing board games.  Most recently the Big Guy like to use it when he made himself some popcorn.  It was just an all-around handy bowl to have.

Yesterday the Big Guy walked into the den where I was.  He was carrying that dark green plastic bowl.  Holding it out to me he said,

"Don't try and use this for anything liquid anymore.  It has a little crack in the bottom." 

I looked in and sure enough, there was a crack about 2 1/2" long!   I looked at him and said, "Why don't we just throw it out?" 

"Why?" he said.

I shut my eyes for a second while I took a deep breath.

"Because.  It. Has. A CRACK in the bottom!  Just throw it away, ok?" 

"But we've had it forever!"  he said.

"I know," said I, "but a cracked bowl isn't much good."

He looked kind of sad, "But it's still good for popcorn." 

" We have other bowls." I said soothingly.  "Any one of them would work as well."

"But I've already WASHED it!!"  he cried pathetically.

I couldn't help it, I started to laugh.  You see that is just sooooooo Mikey.  It was clean, it was ready to use, there was no need to throw it away!  It hurts him physically I think, to discard something as long as it might still be useful someday, someway, even if there is a perfectly good alternative.  This is why his office is so filled with boxes and notebooks, and gadgets and things that he just might use someday, that you cannot even get to or sit at the desk!

"How about this?" I said.  "The next time you use it for popcorn, DON'T wash the bowl and THEN throw it out."

He agreed to that!  We'll see.  But if he doesn't throw it out then,  I will personally, dump it into a bucket of used motor oil, and then I will throw it out!  Because, really, who needs a 45 year old plastic bowl with a CRACK IN THE BOTTOM, even tho you've had the bowl as long as you've had HIM!!

Hmmmm, I'd better remember to check first to see if "There's a Hole in the Bucket!!"  Otherwise, you can bet we'll just go through the whole conversation all over again!!    :)