Teapots and Toaster-ovens

I very recently had an interesting experience while on a trip to Tucson with my college golf team. I met some very interesting people. Because we stayed in host houses instead of hotels, I was given the opportunity to interact with people I would have otherwise never have met. My host family turned out to be an elderly British couple, so staying with them opened up some new experiences for me.

Of course, the first thing I noticed was their accents. The woman’s accent was not particularly, but it was still quite prominent. The man’s accent on the other hand, was far heavier than his wife’s and sounded almost Australian, although I can tell you it wasn’t. I thought it was amusing when the wife said their friends back in England say they sound like Americans now, because I sure thought they sounded British!

The second thing I noticed about my host family was the language difference that generally accompanies regional separation. As my host mother was giving my teammate and me a tour of the house, I briefly noted that she referred to the toilet as the “loo.” I was hard-pressed not to laugh, as that is one of my favorite British words. I do believe I let slip a smile, although I’m quite certain no one saw.

As I stayed with this host family, I continued to pick up more and more of these little language differences, most of which I have made a mental not of in case I should stay with them again next year.

Now, many of you may be wondering why I titled this piece “Teapots and Toaster-ovens” if all I am going to do is talk about my British host family—great people, they really are. Well, I thought of the title the other night while I was laying in my bed replaying in my mind a scene from their kitchen. My host mom was serving me breakfast and asked if I would like some hot chocolate. I readily accepted. I have never really been one to turn down a nice hot mug of hot chocolate (except perhaps in the summertime). So, she filled up her teapot and proceeded to heat the water. I’m sure some of you are thinking “well why shouldn’t she have a teapot? She is British.” But what you don’t know is that these people have been in the United States for quite a while. Nearly every other appliance they have is a new, updated model, so I was a little shocked when I saw the teapot. She even had a tea cozy for it! Don’t get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with having a teapot of a tea cozy. It just came as a little bit of a culture shock to me.

The second part of my title refers to the other appliance in their house that was not updated in accordance with the average American family. No, I don’t see anything wrong with toaster-ovens either. In fact, I prefer them immensely to the pop-up toaster. It just has something to do with how evenly they heat. I was rather excited when I watched my host mom put my English muffin inside it to toast. I nearly jumped out of my seat. In my lifetime, I have only known two other families who use a toaster-oven: my father’s parents and my best friend’s family. I believe it was last year, actually, when my best friend accidentally set her English muffin on fire while it was toasting. Good job, Meg. I don’t think I will ever let you live that down.

On a similar note, I only ever knew one person that used a teapot. I remember seeing it on my grandmother’s stove when I was little. It was a small blue teapot that looked to be old enough for her to have brought with her when she emigrated here from Italy. I doubt it was that old, but time and use left it a little worse for wear.

The point I am trying to make in this piece is that people of the current generation have been brought into a world so modernized, they hardly have to do anything for themselves. All they have to do is put what they have into a machine, push a few buttons, and take out the finished product. I can almost assure you, if you gave a teenager a teapot, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. Sure, they would know that it is used to heat water, but they would not know how to use it. Most of them would just rather stick a cup of water in the microwave and push a few buttons.

The way I see it, all the technology that is circulating today is the by-product of laziness, greed, and a sense of inefficiency. One of the main desires in the hearts of nearly all people is the desire for wealth, however, most are too lazy to go out and work for their money. They make up a lame excuse that manual work is too time-consuming and inefficient, so they build machines to make the job faster and easier. The sped up processes make taking on bigger jobs simpler. Cash flows in faster and in greater amounts. As far as I am concerned, this in turn, fuels the laziness that started the whole thing. It is a never-ending cycle that will continue to feed itself until it destroys itself through war and fear and jealousy. All I can hope is that none of us will be there when it does. I prefer the time of teapots and toaster-ovens.