to drycleaners -uniforms anyway) , I have tapered end to the left , but considering learned to iron on my own...it's a wonder I even know what an iron is! My mom was domestictially challenged to say the least!
Donna in S. Indiana
This entire thread really strikes one of my old, buried (or so I thought) nerves. My late husband's mother was, to put it indelicately, a control freak of the highest order. Anyone could go merrily about his/her daily existence until the chance encounter with MIL, and like a bolt of lightning, she would attack with no warning, with a barrage of criticism about an absolutely mundane task, which in her infinite wisdom was not being properly executed.
It mattered not if my husband was moving a piece of furniture or if I was heating canned peas in a saucepan, MIL could find fault with the offending party, and her shrill voice would strike one's ears as if one had turned the ignition key of a vehicle whose previous occupant had left the radio on at the highest possible volume.
I was assisting in the preparation of lunch at her home one fine day, and I emptied a can of LeSeur peas into a small saucepan and placed the pan on the stove. She walked into the kitchen just as I turned the burner on under the saucepan, and she began bleating that I was doing it "all wrong", that the peas must be strained from the liquid, the liquid must be heated to a simmer, and then and only then, the peas must be added to the pan for a brief moment to receive the heat from the liquid. To do otherwise was to risk turning the peas into mush.
At that point in my life, I had heated in the neighborhood of 30-40 cans of LeSeur peas, and not one single can of peas had ever turned to mush. I knew it was pointless to try to argue or offer another point of view, as either tactic would only elicit a fusillade of criticism and opprobrium.
This was a woman who felt it was her calling in life to control everything and everyone. May she rest in peace.
My dad tells the story of his #2 son that is similar. Son moves back into dad's house after a divorce. Dad is nearly 80 at that point. Son walks into kitchen as dad is boiling an egg and tells dad he is doing that all wrong. He went on with 3 different things dad was doing wrong. I am not sure how dad got to be so old not boiling an egg properly but he tells the story these few years later shaking his head and laughing about the whole thing. I guess if we could all just shake our heads and laugh life might be easier. Maybe when I am near 80 I'll be more able. I was really lucky with my MIL. She died too young : (
Taria
nabokovsmuse wrote:
We have a family saying, suitable for such occasions. "yes-dear,yes-dear, anything-you-say-dear", which is code for "get out of here, you're bugging me, go take a nap if you can't think of something better to do". Usually both of the parties then laugh.
Kay
My ironing board is set up square end to the right. I guess it made the most sense to me because I can set the iron down on the larger end. Setting it down on the tapered end would take up too much room on the board because it has to set farther away from the end to fit. At least that's how I view it. But who cares after all?
I love it when someone gets to the crux of an issue as Janice has done. Square end to the right is precisely the reason that most right-handed people place their ironing boards thusly, because it is safer and more efficient to place the iron on the widest part of the board when turning or maneuvering the item which is being ironed. If the tapered end of the board was on the right for a right-handed person, there would be risks of the iron toppling onto the floor or tipping over on the narrow space on the board and striking the ironer's right arm or hand.
The underlying issue, as I see it, is that of personal preference and personal comfort. If one is content with the square end to the left, then why in heaven's name should one feel compelled to change? There are innumerable ways devised by humans to accomplish the most mundane tasks to the most difficult, and we do not live in a "one size fits all" world. Vive la difference!
Sorry, but this reminds me of a poem I heard way back when I was in grade (grammer) school:
I eat my peas with honey I've done it all my life It does taste kind of funny But it keeps them on the knife!
I could understand MIL or mother speaking up -- but
My dad topped that off with this:
*I* eat my pease with treacle and have done for months and months - It's stickier than honey: You can eat them all at once!:P
Well there's the solution, isn't it? Next time MIL comments on the ironing board, open a can of peas!
Peas and treacle on the ironing board. Just add a really moulty cat in a foul mood, and watch the show! ;P
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