Two four-letter words
Jul. 6th, 2007 11:39 pm"Don't know." Why do people have so much trouble saying those words?
Today, I brought some of the leftover lime squares in to work, and left them on the table in the lunch room. A few minutes later, I overheard one person asking another what was in them. "Apple," he replied.
Good grief. If that recipe has a fault, it's that it's got too much lime in it. I'm considering reducing the amount by a third, or maybe even a half. A couple of people have told me that the squares are tasty but too strongly-flavored for them to eat, beyond a tiny nibble. They couldn't possibly be mistaken for "apple" by anyone who'd tasted one.
At our company picnic on Wednesday, one person was passing around a bowl of spring rolls prepared by someone else, one of our new employees. I asked her what was in them, and she said, "Bean curd." I asked her what else, and she said, "They're bean curd." I decided to pass, since she obviously didn't know the contents. But when another vegetarian colleague asked her if the spring rolls were vegetarian, she assured her firmly, "Completely vegetarian!" Even though she didn't know.
I just don't get it. I don't enjoy admitting ignorance, but I'd much rather honestly admit ignorance than feign certainty and risk giving a completely wrong answer. (There's sometimes room for something like "I think probably [X] but I'm not totally sure" as well.)
Today, I brought some of the leftover lime squares in to work, and left them on the table in the lunch room. A few minutes later, I overheard one person asking another what was in them. "Apple," he replied.
Good grief. If that recipe has a fault, it's that it's got too much lime in it. I'm considering reducing the amount by a third, or maybe even a half. A couple of people have told me that the squares are tasty but too strongly-flavored for them to eat, beyond a tiny nibble. They couldn't possibly be mistaken for "apple" by anyone who'd tasted one.
At our company picnic on Wednesday, one person was passing around a bowl of spring rolls prepared by someone else, one of our new employees. I asked her what was in them, and she said, "Bean curd." I asked her what else, and she said, "They're bean curd." I decided to pass, since she obviously didn't know the contents. But when another vegetarian colleague asked her if the spring rolls were vegetarian, she assured her firmly, "Completely vegetarian!" Even though she didn't know.
I just don't get it. I don't enjoy admitting ignorance, but I'd much rather honestly admit ignorance than feign certainty and risk giving a completely wrong answer. (There's sometimes room for something like "I think probably [X] but I'm not totally sure" as well.)