|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: More than a little peeved
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
I don't quite know where to place this rant of sorts, but I have to get it off my chest.
Yesterday I attended a pot luck event. The host had announced that he'd be grilling assorted meats on his poolside barbecue. Others had said they'd bring fruit salad and tiramisu. I said I'd bring some ears of corn to grill.
As it turned out, the weather forced us to move the event indoors, and the host at the last minute decided to substitute a taco bar for the grilled meat. I suggested that he might want to unwrap the corn from the aluminum foil I had wrapped it in for grilling, and boil it instead. (That's all I said; I learned a long time ago not to interfere in the management of other people's kitchens.)
To make a long story short, the corn remained uncooked and was not served. The host said nothing. I ended up taking it home, where I'll probably freeze the ears I won't be able to eat right away.
I think the host was rude. If corn was not wanted, he could have warned me in advance: "Oh, Amanda, don't bring corn -- no one will eat it. Why not bring a tossed salad instead?"
Am I being over-sensitive? What do you all think?
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Zacchaeus
Shipmate
# 14454
|
Posted
I'd have eaten your grilled corn, and been miffed at not getting it.
But maybe the host just overlooked it in the kerfufle of moving indoors.... It's easy to forget even after a gentle reminder..
OTOH if it wasn;t wanted he could have said to bring an alternative
Posts: 1905 | From: the back of beyond | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
Provided nothing went to waste - and I got my food back in edible order - I wouldn't be that bothered.
But then anyone invited me to the likes of that would have to accept me as Participant Cook. That is what I do.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
|
Posted
As it's a potluck, and the clue is in the title so everything that got bought should have ended up on the table. Given that it's corn season right now, there are two possible explanations:
Your Host has appalling taste buds as well as manners.
Your Host completely forgot to prepare the corn due to the change in plans and was too embarrassed to admit it, but didn't want to waste it so gave it back. (If I was your Host, that would be the reason! ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif) )
I completely understand why you're miffed, I would be too. But life is too short - and you have great corn too eat and they don't!
It's moments like this where I really miss Sine! He'd know the etiquette for dealing with this kind of thing. I suspect it doesn't involve stabbing your Host with ice-cream forks!
Tubbs
--------------------
"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
|
Posted
The host might have been too overwhelmed with managing the change from outside to inside to cope with preparing more food -- witness the change from grilled meat to taco bar. Especially since getting out a pot of water and boiling it and unwrapping ears of corn is all more intensive on the host's part than you just slipping some ears of corn onto the grill in the original plan. It may not seem much more intensive, but it's one extra added hump for the host to climb over.
I bring to potlucks food that doesn't require any further preparation. It does mean potluck attendees during corn season will miss out on having corn (unless the host provides it), that's life. (Sounds better in French -- c'est la vie.)
I would enjoy my unexpected corn lode and not be miffed.
--------------------
Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
Your Host has appalling taste buds as well as manners.
He may have been slightly miffed because I told him I'd taste the homemade guacamole that he had been slaving over all day, but that I really didn't like avocados or cilantro.
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Getting out a pot of water and boiling it and unwrapping ears of corn is all more intensive on the host's part than you just slipping some ears of corn onto the grill in the original plan.
Which he could have dealt with by saying, "Oh, Amanda, could you boil some water and slip the corn in, please, there's a dear lamb, while I slather out my guacamole?"
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
|
Posted
You could ask him. Perhaps the way you suggested that they be boiled left the impression that you expected him to do the work, so he in his turn was miffed and didn't think he could ask you to do it. Who knows. Talk to him.
"Jack, I had a great time at the potluck. Thanks for having us all over. I noticed my corn didn't get used. I didn't want to intrude in your kitchen because I could see you were busy, but should I have gone ahead and boiled them myself? Or would it all have been too overwhelming and next time I should bring something that doesn't require preparation?"
--------------------
Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
Your Host has appalling taste buds as well as manners.
He may have been slightly miffed because I told him I'd taste the homemade guacamole that he had been slaving over all day, but that I really didn't like avocados or cilantro.
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
Getting out a pot of water and boiling it and unwrapping ears of corn is all more intensive on the host's part than you just slipping some ears of corn onto the grill in the original plan.
Which he could have dealt with by saying, "Oh, Amanda, could you boil some water and slip the corn in, please, there's a dear lamb, while I slather out my guacamole?"
I suspect (depending of the closeness of the relationships involved) what you have here is either, no rudeness on either side (but some slight confusion) or a rudeness draw.
In high society it is not done to say you don't like the food. In none high society you can get away with it if you and the host get on well enough for them not to take it personally, but presumably if you got on that well you would not take the corn thing personally.
--------------------
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
|
Posted
I confess that I have totally forgotten to cook ears of corn while preparing food for a party. In that case, the ears of corn were in full view, on the countertop, yelling "Helloooooo!" but my brain was simply Not Functioning. I noticed them when I went to clear up.
fortunately, in my case, I was the one who had supplied the corn. So I knew first hand what the problem was--simple ditziness. Nothing worse than that.
--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
He'd been slaving over the guacamole all day? The whole point is to zap it together at the last moment so that it's all fresh and zingy and an attractive shade of bright green (as opposed to khaki).
He does not sound the most competent of chefs. Your corn probably outran his ability to organise simultaneous cooking processes.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
He'd been slaving over the guacamole all day? The whole point is to zap it together at the last moment.
I exaggerate for effect. He made it fresh right then and there in front of us all.
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I confess that I have totally forgotten to cook ears of corn while preparing food for a party. In that case, the ears of corn were in full view, on the countertop, yelling "Helloooooo!"
Was my host channeling you? That's exactly how it happened! I'll write it off. Thanks, all, for letting me vent.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
I also assume that people have the best of intentions, and do not offer insults by accident. Most people I know will offer their insults up front and to mt face.
So I would make the assumption that it was an accidental oversight, rather than a deliberate slur. A change from an outdoor to an indoor meal is a real challenge if you are the host, not just with the cooking.
The easiest solution is incompetence, rather than malice. Of course, that level of incompetence means you have to kill him anyway.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
Of course, that level of incompetence means you have to kill him anyway.
A fitting end for someone who prefers guacamole to corn on the cob.
--------------------
"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Amanda B. Reckondwythe:
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I confess that I have totally forgotten to cook ears of corn while preparing food for a party. In that case, the ears of corn were in full view, on the countertop, yelling "Helloooooo!"
Was my host channeling you? That's exactly how it happened! I'll write it off. Thanks, all, for letting me vent. [/QB]
Let's hope he wasn't. I'm the person who has been known to put two cups of salt in a peach pie in mistake for sugar.
Beware what you eat over there.
--------------------
Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
Invite the host over for a corn roast.
or
Invite everyone who attended over for a corn roast, leaving out the host.
Please don't listen to me!
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Printer-friendly view
