My Coaster Theory
So maybe my theory was a little wrong. Alright. Completely wrong. So wrong that I shall dedicate this post to the education of other ignorant folks like me (are there any?).
We had been wanting to go visit Alvin and Doretta before school starts again, so Martin, Sharon, Jolene, and I made our way out to Catlett, VA, last weekend via various methods of transportation.
It was during one of our meaningless conversations that it was discovered that there were certain ones of Us who use our drink coasters with the cork side up. And then there were Others. And there ensued a Great Debate about which was the proper way to use coasters. Picture side up vs. cork side up. It became a rather intense debate, truth be told.
It is now apparent to me that the area of drink coaster education is a deficiency in my child-rearing—and for good reasons. First of all, my mother never had drink coasters sitting around for us to use when we were children. In fact, some of the few that we had for any length of time were products of a Reader’s Digest promotion. They were silver-coated and so nice that we were not to use them.
Second, the drinks of my childhood were always poured into Tupperware glasses, and there was very little (if any) condensation to be dealt with. And if per chance there was condensation on the glass, the furniture of my [poor] childhood was such that any water rings left on its surface would have enhanced the furniture instead of marring it. So you see, there really was no need to have drink coasters at my house.
And third, I never read a Miss Manners column or any etiquette books on a regular basis (and even if I had, I doubt this particular subject was ever addressed). At any rate, I simply have had no foundation for this knowledge to have been acquired. In my adult life, I’ve always just evaluated them coaster by coaster. You see, it seems perfectly logical to both Sharon and me that the purpose of the cork side is to absorb the condensation from the glass and that the pretty picture on the other side is merely an appeal to the feminine side of folks and is to be used for decorative purposes when the coaster is not in use.
But oh NO! Our theory was pummeled, trampled, and otherwise ridiculed by the Others. The cork side, it seems, is “to keep the furniture from being scratched!” And dear brother Martin simply would not let the subject alone. He even brought it up again on our way home from church even though the subject had already been thoroughly hashed, and we had agreed to disagree. He was absolutely determined that his sisters should not be so socially ignorant. We finally decided that since my friend Rita was going to be at Alvin’s for Sunday lunch, we would momentarily shut up about it and observe how the Queen of Etiquette herself (Ms. Rita) used her coaster.
As expected, Rita took a coaster to set her glass on. I made a point of not paying any attention and hoped that Martin would just forget about it. But it was not long before Martin began to make a scene, beaming, crowing, grinning, and pointing silently. He made such a silent scene, in fact, that it was evident without my looking that yes, Rita had indeed put the picture side up! So since I trust Rita implicitly, I shall acknowledge this little glitch in my education and go on.
We had been wanting to go visit Alvin and Doretta before school starts again, so Martin, Sharon, Jolene, and I made our way out to Catlett, VA, last weekend via various methods of transportation.
It was during one of our meaningless conversations that it was discovered that there were certain ones of Us who use our drink coasters with the cork side up. And then there were Others. And there ensued a Great Debate about which was the proper way to use coasters. Picture side up vs. cork side up. It became a rather intense debate, truth be told.
It is now apparent to me that the area of drink coaster education is a deficiency in my child-rearing—and for good reasons. First of all, my mother never had drink coasters sitting around for us to use when we were children. In fact, some of the few that we had for any length of time were products of a Reader’s Digest promotion. They were silver-coated and so nice that we were not to use them.
Second, the drinks of my childhood were always poured into Tupperware glasses, and there was very little (if any) condensation to be dealt with. And if per chance there was condensation on the glass, the furniture of my [poor] childhood was such that any water rings left on its surface would have enhanced the furniture instead of marring it. So you see, there really was no need to have drink coasters at my house.
And third, I never read a Miss Manners column or any etiquette books on a regular basis (and even if I had, I doubt this particular subject was ever addressed). At any rate, I simply have had no foundation for this knowledge to have been acquired. In my adult life, I’ve always just evaluated them coaster by coaster. You see, it seems perfectly logical to both Sharon and me that the purpose of the cork side is to absorb the condensation from the glass and that the pretty picture on the other side is merely an appeal to the feminine side of folks and is to be used for decorative purposes when the coaster is not in use.
But oh NO! Our theory was pummeled, trampled, and otherwise ridiculed by the Others. The cork side, it seems, is “to keep the furniture from being scratched!” And dear brother Martin simply would not let the subject alone. He even brought it up again on our way home from church even though the subject had already been thoroughly hashed, and we had agreed to disagree. He was absolutely determined that his sisters should not be so socially ignorant. We finally decided that since my friend Rita was going to be at Alvin’s for Sunday lunch, we would momentarily shut up about it and observe how the Queen of Etiquette herself (Ms. Rita) used her coaster.
As expected, Rita took a coaster to set her glass on. I made a point of not paying any attention and hoped that Martin would just forget about it. But it was not long before Martin began to make a scene, beaming, crowing, grinning, and pointing silently. He made such a silent scene, in fact, that it was evident without my looking that yes, Rita had indeed put the picture side up! So since I trust Rita implicitly, I shall acknowledge this little glitch in my education and go on.
Especially since I could not find anything [post-trip] in my eResearch to support my theory. Bah!
posted by Kris at 8/08/2005 06:50:00 PM
1 Comments:
I admit that the cork side up makes sense to me too. But what do I know?
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