Image used is mine
'No not one of those'
I can almost still hear the words and see the subsequent frown that must've formed on my face. Today I remember it and I laugh at those memories.
I grew up in a home where certain behaviors were passed down from previous generations. One of such was hoarding special dishware for only special occasions.
As a teenager it used to be a source of dismay to me whenever I was told to return the special ceramic plates with beautiful flower patterns. There wasn't actually anything special about them to me, it was the inability to use them that was my point of interest.
We'd wonder why our parents kept certain plates, only to be used probably once or twice a year and then it's back into safe protection once again.
The gist I usually got was that they didn't want any of them broken because they were fragile, but the truth I would later discover was that having special dishware for special occasions was something their generation loved.
Almost every household had their secret stash and you only got to see the actual number of plates in the house when there was a party coming up.
It was like a general rule that everyone was in on, and if you couldn't come up with yours when you had a party, you'd only have yourself to embarrass.
Image used is mine
I on the other hand do not subscribe to this method even though I understand the reasoning behind it. My reasons for this decision are both sentimental and practical.
The first is that I believe a dishware is only special in my house if I can use it, it's usage should not be subject to having special occasions or not. It's uniqueness to me is in how useful it serves me.
Secondly I don't think I've ever had more than two friends over at a time, so the notion of having large number of dishware for large gathering is already practically a waste.
There's nobody to use them, it could be sitting in one place for years and no one would touch them.
The third is actually something I noticed growing up, most of the people who kept a lot of special plates were the mums and grandmas. Most of the guys I know mostly have between two to five plates in their apartments and they're good to go.
Knowing this most guys I know will simply borrow them whenever a large celebration comes up and return them after usage instead of having to keep their own special collection in the house.
I don't know if it's a guy thing, but from my observation the tendency to keep things kitchen related is quite low with guys except he's a chef or loves cooking.
Growing up in an environment where we had them but didn't use them must've shaped my decision. I prefer having only the ones I know I'll always use from time to time than having something that's dependent on me throwing a party which so far I've never done.
My mum has tried to give me some of those fancy plates, but i just know it won't last long with me. I'll probably borrow it out to someone and forget to collect it back.
Knowing her it's most likely the first thing she'll notice when she visits. I'm better off safe than sorry.
This is in response to this week's kiss initiative, I hope you enjoyed reading up until the end.