My husband and I were watching a cooking show the other day and one of the dishes the chef prepared was oatmeal layered with sauteed apples. It looked good and since I have some apples that are starting to get a little soft, I thought I would make it for Sunday brunch.
While I was peeling the apples, I flashed back to a memory from thirty years ago. I was at Girl Scout camp and I had been assigned to cooking duty. I was asked to prepare the salad. The scout leader handed me a bowl full of lettuce and assorted vegetables, a cutting board and a knife and told me to get started. I washed everything, tore the lettuce into a big bowl, cut up the tomatoes and then started to peel a cucumber.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to cut yourself?" she shrieked at me. "Who on earth taught you to peel vegetables?"
"My mom," I answered, sheepishly.
"Well, it's wrong. Hand it to me. I'll do it." She said, while my troop mates looked on uncomfortably. "You can go set the tables."
I was about twelve years old when this exchange took place, but I was not new to cooking. My mom had been letting me cook, with supervision, for two or three years by then. I had peeled more than a few vegetables and I had done it the way my mom showed me, by using a paring knife held perpendicular to the vegetable and pulling it toward my thumb. It was the she did it and the way both of my grandmothers did it. I was pretty good at it and had never cut myself.
I was upset about it, at the time. The scout leader managed to make me feel stupid, embarrassed and insulted with her comment. Most of all, I felt like she was insulting my mother by suggesting that she was incompetent and had taught me something dangerous. I hadn't been enjoying camp much up to that point, but after that I was downright miserable. I couldn't wait to go home.
Maybe it wasn't as much about what she said as the way she said it. After all, when she asked who had taught me to peel vegetables, what did she think I was going to say? Had I been a little older at the time, I don't think it would have bothered me, much. I never liked her or enjoyed Girl Scouts after that.
It's probably silly that I remember that after all these years, but it really made an impact. Words are powerful, and if you're not careful, you can cut someone, even if it is unintentional.
How about you? Have you ever had a similar experience that stuck with you?
Willoughby
While I was peeling the apples, I flashed back to a memory from thirty years ago. I was at Girl Scout camp and I had been assigned to cooking duty. I was asked to prepare the salad. The scout leader handed me a bowl full of lettuce and assorted vegetables, a cutting board and a knife and told me to get started. I washed everything, tore the lettuce into a big bowl, cut up the tomatoes and then started to peel a cucumber.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to cut yourself?" she shrieked at me. "Who on earth taught you to peel vegetables?"
"My mom," I answered, sheepishly.
"Well, it's wrong. Hand it to me. I'll do it." She said, while my troop mates looked on uncomfortably. "You can go set the tables."
I was about twelve years old when this exchange took place, but I was not new to cooking. My mom had been letting me cook, with supervision, for two or three years by then. I had peeled more than a few vegetables and I had done it the way my mom showed me, by using a paring knife held perpendicular to the vegetable and pulling it toward my thumb. It was the she did it and the way both of my grandmothers did it. I was pretty good at it and had never cut myself.
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Maybe it wasn't as much about what she said as the way she said it. After all, when she asked who had taught me to peel vegetables, what did she think I was going to say? Had I been a little older at the time, I don't think it would have bothered me, much. I never liked her or enjoyed Girl Scouts after that.
It's probably silly that I remember that after all these years, but it really made an impact. Words are powerful, and if you're not careful, you can cut someone, even if it is unintentional.
How about you? Have you ever had a similar experience that stuck with you?
Willoughby
Comments
Oh, yes, I'm sure we all can recall a time when someone in authority responded like this. Your leader should have been more thoughtful...
I am glad she stopped you. I had a friend who was preparing cucumbers this way and cut way into the pad of her thumb...had to go to the emergency room. I wonder if that batch of pickles was ever finished?!
We are getting more snow. I hope you are safe and warm. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. ~Natalie
Up until a few years ago, when celebrity chef shows became all the rage, I'm pretty sure that most Americans learned their knife skills from their parents -- passed down from generation to generation. Even still, I'd bet that the technique that you learned as a child is still the way that a majority of people peel veggies.
Secretly, that scout leader was probably jealous that you were an adept kitchen knife wielder, and wanted to knock you down a peg.
I had a bad experience with a Lifeguard swim lessons when I was about seven years old. I never forgot that time, and to this day, I panic if someone attempts to push my head underwater as in kidding around. She impatience for my timidness somewhat scarred me for underwater swimming.
I can understand the cutting away versus toward you problem. That doesn't justify the harsh treatment. I still have a scare on a finger I sliced really bad as a kid. I was modifying a plastic toy with a knife - dumb.
Hey how did the recipe turn out?
I bought this postcard once that says, "You never know when you are making a memory." I think it was supposed to be very uplifting, reminding us that we don't need to create "big" moments for our kids to remember -- that the fun "little" moments are just as special. Well. Yeah. But that phrase scares the crap out of me -- I always wonder which offhanded comment I have made will be my kids' "Oprah moment" -- the hurtful thing that will scar them forever. Aagh!
Shame on that scout leader, though. I had a mean one, too, once. I bit her when we were playing a game in the dark.
OK, yeah. I'm kinda/sorta ashamed of it, but really ... I was just a little kid...and she totally deserved it.
Sigh.