I don't know about you but my mom use to read that book about manners to me when I was young but she never took the time to tell me what to do if you have more than one fork, knife and spoon at the table. And that is the beginning of my story.
When I was in 4-H and about 13 years old I was already about 6'2" and 205 lbs. and everyone thought I was 18 and treated me like that even though I assure you I did not always act older. Anyway that came in handy when I went to 4-H events at OSU every spring and there was a plethera of girls which mightily intrigued me. I remember one time I took this girl who was 18 years old bowling and for a walk around the campus and for all practical thinking I had died and gone to heaven. She was great looking and I could not believe what was happening. At that age I certainly had not kissed a girl and holding hands was enough to make the goose bumps pop out. In fact the closest I had ever been to a girl was Becky Sharp (an old Shidler girl) who was "to die for" and I don't ever remember holding her hand but she held my heart. Anyway to say the least when the girl at OSU figured out, because I was stupid enough to tell her, how old I was she was thoroughly embarrased. To say the least she wanted this "kinda of a date" to end quickly. About the only great thing that happened about this short engagement is that my old brother Larry and his friends saw us walking across campus and they were really empressed. I was too.
OK back to "fine dining". Another great thing about 4-H was that if you qualified you were chosen to go on trips. One of the trips I was fortunate enough to go on was one to Kansas City for the American Royal which is a national 4-H round-up where there is a livestock show and other competition. We took a bus which was my first bus ride and my first trip to the big city of Kansas City. While there they treated us to banquets and other trips to company headquarters etc. It was a great time.
So here comes the problem with "fine dining". At the first banquet which was held at the Cattlemen's Restaurant (as I recall) and there was a ton of hardware and glasses next to my plate. I had absolutely no idea what all this stuff was for. The forks and spoons were different sizes and I was "just a country boy" and had no idea what to do. But being resourceful there was a very attractive young girl (new to me) sitting across the table from me named Joyce Thomas from Copan, Oklahoma. God was watching over me and every time she picked up a fork or spoon I followed suit. Oh ya, and she was pleasant to look at and talk to. Luckily she was there and we soon became good friends and that is another story. But over the years I did learn how to act a little sophisticated except for the time I was at Bob and Nancy Scott's house in Naperville, Illinois (he worked at EDS with me) and they had this very formal dinner with lots of hardware and glasses. Nancy served a salad with those cherry tomatoes and I personally had never had one of those so I just popped it in my mouth. Well I have to tell you as I bit down on that darn thing it popped wide open and flew out my mouth completely across the table. Oh well, you win a few and lose a few.
What do you learn in the Osage?
When I was in 4-H and about 13 years old I was already about 6'2" and 205 lbs. and everyone thought I was 18 and treated me like that even though I assure you I did not always act older. Anyway that came in handy when I went to 4-H events at OSU every spring and there was a plethera of girls which mightily intrigued me. I remember one time I took this girl who was 18 years old bowling and for a walk around the campus and for all practical thinking I had died and gone to heaven. She was great looking and I could not believe what was happening. At that age I certainly had not kissed a girl and holding hands was enough to make the goose bumps pop out. In fact the closest I had ever been to a girl was Becky Sharp (an old Shidler girl) who was "to die for" and I don't ever remember holding her hand but she held my heart. Anyway to say the least when the girl at OSU figured out, because I was stupid enough to tell her, how old I was she was thoroughly embarrased. To say the least she wanted this "kinda of a date" to end quickly. About the only great thing that happened about this short engagement is that my old brother Larry and his friends saw us walking across campus and they were really empressed. I was too.
OK back to "fine dining". Another great thing about 4-H was that if you qualified you were chosen to go on trips. One of the trips I was fortunate enough to go on was one to Kansas City for the American Royal which is a national 4-H round-up where there is a livestock show and other competition. We took a bus which was my first bus ride and my first trip to the big city of Kansas City. While there they treated us to banquets and other trips to company headquarters etc. It was a great time.
So here comes the problem with "fine dining". At the first banquet which was held at the Cattlemen's Restaurant (as I recall) and there was a ton of hardware and glasses next to my plate. I had absolutely no idea what all this stuff was for. The forks and spoons were different sizes and I was "just a country boy" and had no idea what to do. But being resourceful there was a very attractive young girl (new to me) sitting across the table from me named Joyce Thomas from Copan, Oklahoma. God was watching over me and every time she picked up a fork or spoon I followed suit. Oh ya, and she was pleasant to look at and talk to. Luckily she was there and we soon became good friends and that is another story. But over the years I did learn how to act a little sophisticated except for the time I was at Bob and Nancy Scott's house in Naperville, Illinois (he worked at EDS with me) and they had this very formal dinner with lots of hardware and glasses. Nancy served a salad with those cherry tomatoes and I personally had never had one of those so I just popped it in my mouth. Well I have to tell you as I bit down on that darn thing it popped wide open and flew out my mouth completely across the table. Oh well, you win a few and lose a few.
What do you learn in the Osage?
- If you don't know what you are doing look for experienced people
- Doing what others do can be good a lot of the time
- Watch what you bite into, it might blow up on you
Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com
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