Member-only story
“Simple” Things that Actually Require Lots of Practice
Because you don’t know what you don’t know
I was at a dinner party that my neighbor hosted to honor her niece. This young woman, not yet 30-years-old, had achieved the highest academic honors throughout her years of education, and her latest achievement was becoming a partner in a prestigious law firm.
This was my first time meeting the honoree, and I was happy to see a young woman doing well in her chosen career. Good for her!
I acknowledged that she must have worked arduously to achieve her current position, and asked what she did to “wind down”; what kind of things did she enjoy in her leisure time?
She absolutely loved exploring new restaurants, she said, and was interested in different cuisines. She had signed up for “professional” cooking classes that were being offered by an acclaimed chef at his latest restaurant.
When I asked how the classes were going, she said, “Oh, I walked out during the first class. They wanted to teach us ‘knife skills’, and I told them that I didn’t sign up for a professional class to be taught how to use a knife! I’m not stupid! They were telling us how to hold the knife, and how to use a rocking motion. I told them that ‘it makes no difference how you cut something up! I walked out and…
