I realize this blog post may guarantee my listing on the “greatest geezers of all time” list, but write it I must.
Has anyone else noticed that progress isn’t always, well…progressive? Just because something is new on the market doesn’t necessarily make it better or more useful than something that has existed for a long time.
Case in point, the new one-cup-at-a-time drip coffee makers. I’ve been to several gatherings in the past year where 10 or more people are offered coffee and have to queue up to select a choice. Then they wait for the coffee maker to very slowly make their individual cups of coffee. By the time the tenth person in line gets some java, the first three people are ready for seconds. Heaven forbid there is anything else on the agenda for the gathering, because getting everyone a cup of coffee will pretty much take up all the time. And, if I may be so bold to proclaim, no matter which variety you select it ends up tasting like the instant coffee my mother made when she ran out of the real kind.
Have we forgotten the convenience of a coffee maker that makes a whole pot of coffee at once? Not only can you brew as few or as many cups as you need, you can pour exactly as much as you want into each cup. When you want a second cup, guess what? It’s already brewed, and the coffee maker has kept it warm for you in the meantime. Brilliant, no?
Next category: iron-clad cookware. Like many couples, my husband and I succumbed to pressure from the younger generation to get rid of a perfectly good set of pots and pans and go for the much heavier iron-clad variety. Not only did I have trouble lifting a full pot off the stove, I couldn’t understand how it was progressive to have cookware that you couldn’t give a good scrubbing, and couldn’t put in the dishwasher! We gave them away, and I bought a wonderful, lightweight set of stainless steel pots and pans. You can scrub as hard as you want, they all go in the dishwasher, and I can actually pour soup out of the pan without having to grasp the handle with both hands, bend my knees, and count to three before lifting.
One last thing and I will have “geezed” enough for today. I’m not yearning for the friendly grocer who would call all your kids by name, load cans and a bag of flour into a cardboard box, and carry it out to your car (well, maybe I am), but I do appreciate and respect grocery store checkers. I feel that the prices I pay for the items I purchase in a grocery store are set to cover the salaries of these well-trained, competent employees. Not only do I “check out” with my favorite checkers, but “checking in” with them on a periodic basis is a social interaction I enjoy.
So why would I want to self-check my groceries? I’m not good at it, and it’s obvious the machine doesn’t like me any more than I like it. Never once has it asked me about my day or laughed at my jokes. Instead it makes rude comments like, “Strange item in bagging area.” Human checkers are better. After all, God made them, and you just can’t improve on His work!
accurately and whimsically observed, my astute friend…but always kind! I
love you
Thanks! Love you back!
Nancy – my dear friend – what fun! I loved this! Thanks for the chuckles and the smiles! And just for the record – geezer? You are not!! Love, Kelly
Thanks, Kelly…but obviously I have my “geezer” moments!
Nancy, you are most definitely not a geezer! You did have me nodding and smiling along the way. I can just see you making the grocery store clerks laugh. Now about those single-cup serve coffee makers. They are really not intended for parties, but more for a solo cup in the morning or here and there throughout the day. So now we have to buy a single-cup and full-pot brewer to cover all our social needs. Progress??!
I know they do have benefits but I agree–should be an “extra option” and not the only source of soul soothing coffee! Thanks, Beth.
Always ready for a smile to start my day so when I see Nancy Parer Brummett listed I know what she wrote will ease me into another new day with a chuckle. Thanks once again, Nancy. You never let me down.
Nor you me, Betty. Thanks for the comment.
You brought a smile to my face with this one. Oh my! Geezers we are!!!
Thanks, Charlie! Guess the cat is out of the bag now!
Nancy – you’ve so beautifully expressed some of my daily frustrations, too!
Why would we want coffee that is brewed one cup at a time? It not only seems to take forever to be made, but I often have to slam the top down multiple times before it acknowledges that there’s a coffee unit installed. I love our burr grinder (which gives me the freshest of coffee!) and drip coffee maker – with a steamer for my milk, please and thank you.
I love your humor – you articulate frustrations with such grace. Thank you.
Can’t wait to read your upcoming book!
– S
You make coffee sound appealing again–and easy! 🙂 Thanks for the comments.
Nancy, Always a fun read, even when I can’t relate. My next cup of coffee will be my first – ever! But I’m with you all the way on grocery store checkers. I’ve shopped at the same market for 14 years now, and some of them are real friends.
Thanks and blessings!
Bob, a store whose opening I attended in 1978 just closed and it was a huge loss to our neighborhood. I’m hoping to see some of those faces appear at other stores soon! Thanks for the comments.
This was a good one!!! I have to say I love my cast iron pots…the 1, 2, 3, lift and all! Just my Louisiana upbringing!
And I like the helpers in the check yourself out…we visit and usually she has to help me get out of a bind!
Thanks…
Well, there’s nothing like cornbread in a cast iron skillet! Thanks, Jimmie.
I guess I’m a geezer with you then cause I feel exactly the same way about all of the above! Thank you so much for sharing your humor as well as your insightful spiritual guidance.
You’re so welcome, Kathy. Thanks for taking time to read my musings!
A hearty AMEN to all of the above!!!! I’m thankful that I converted to HOT BLACK tea years ago!! 🙂 I”ve added 3
pieces of Cast Iron Cookware to my Revereware Stainless Steel Pots n’ Pans, but have never really been sold on it, except when I desire strength training! And I enjoy anything that feels like hometown comfort, like meeting friends in the grocery store!!! 🙂 Love your blogs, Nancy!!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Dana! I’ll keep writing!