Monthly Moment: A Butter Blunder
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The day started out like most others - wake up early, take the dog on a walk, grab some breakfast, and head into the office. As I stumbled into the kitchen in desperate need of some caffeine to kick start my morning, I was graced with the most heavenly smell you could imagine. Not one, but two dozen fresh bagels from my favorite bagel shop were sitting on the counter. JACKPOT! Alongside the assortment of bagels was a variety of cream cheeses. While this is a positive to most people, cream cheese happens to be on the list of foods I don’t like (that is a conversation for a whole other blog post). So I grabbed my favorite bagel (french toast, in case anyone was wondering or wanted to bring bagels to the office sometime) toasted that sucker up, and smothered it in butter that I found in the fridge. I returned to my desk and happily devoured my second breakfast. Little did I know it was about to take a turn for the worse.
I have about zero self control when it comes to carbs, especially bagels. So when 2:00 p.m hit, it was time to refuel! I cheerfully started toasting my second bagel of the day. It wasn’t until I grabbed the stick of butter - the butter that I knew only one other coworker and I had used that day - that my moment had begun. Below is a diagram of how most people cut their butter to put on literally everything:
And this… this was the atrocity that I found in our fridge:
WHAT IS THAT?! Someone tell me the logic behind cutting a stick of butter vertically rather than horizontally? Not only that, it wasn’t even cut to the end of the stick! The worst part about this whole situation is that I had to stand there as my bagel finished toasting while coworkers walked in and out of the kitchen, each one glaring at the stick of butter. Did they think I was to blame for such a barbarous act? Should I explain to them it wasn’t me? That I was embarrassed to be seen with the butter? That I knew who the true culprit was?! I stood silently and shamefully buttered my bagel. Such a heavenly experience in the morning had turned awfully hellish.
I hung my head in shame as I walked back to my office. The same office I coincidently share with the villain of my story. I calmly placed my bagel on my desk, picked up the marker, gave myself a tick on the board, and exploded. It wasn’t an explosion of anger by any means, but one of sheer disbelief. I could not believe anyone would think that was acceptable. Do you want to know how the villain responded? She chuckled, shrugged, and explained that she had been cutting butter like this her whole life.
The day started out like most others - wake up early, take the dog on a walk, grab some breakfast, and head into the office. As I stumbled into the kitchen in desperate need of some caffeine to kick start my morning, I was graced with the most heavenly smell you could imagine. Not one, but two dozen fresh bagels from my favorite bagel shop were sitting on the counter. JACKPOT! Alongside the assortment of bagels was a variety of cream cheeses. While this is a positive to most people, cream cheese happens to be on the list of foods I don’t like (that is a conversation for a whole other blog post). So I grabbed my favorite bagel (french toast, in case anyone was wondering or wanted to bring bagels to the office sometime) toasted that sucker up, and smothered it in butter that I found in the fridge. I returned to my desk and happily devoured my second breakfast. Little did I know it was about to take a turn for the worse.
I have about zero self control when it comes to carbs, especially bagels. So when 2:00 p.m hit, it was time to refuel! I cheerfully started toasting my second bagel of the day. It wasn’t until I grabbed the stick of butter - the butter that I knew only one other coworker and I had used that day - that my moment had begun. Below is a diagram of how most people cut their butter to put on literally everything:
And this… this was the atrocity that I found in our fridge:
WHAT IS THAT?! Someone tell me the logic behind cutting a stick of butter vertically rather than horizontally? Not only that, it wasn’t even cut to the end of the stick! The worst part about this whole situation is that I had to stand there as my bagel finished toasting while coworkers walked in and out of the kitchen, each one glaring at the stick of butter. Did they think I was to blame for such a barbarous act? Should I explain to them it wasn’t me? That I was embarrassed to be seen with the butter? That I knew who the true culprit was?! I stood silently and shamefully buttered my bagel. Such a heavenly experience in the morning had turned awfully hellish.
I hung my head in shame as I walked back to my office. The same office I coincidently share with the villain of my story. I calmly placed my bagel on my desk, picked up the marker, gave myself a tick on the board, and exploded. It wasn’t an explosion of anger by any means, but one of sheer disbelief. I could not believe anyone would think that was acceptable. Do you want to know how the villain responded? She chuckled, shrugged, and explained that she had been cutting butter like this her whole life.
What’s the Take Away?
We have moments for a reason. They don’t just exist so we have an excuse to complain openly about things. They exist so we can grow as both a company and a tight-knit family. So here’s what I learned from the butter blunder:- Doing things differently doesn’t mean it’s being done wrong. I knew this before the butter incident, but I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a strong feeling towards something so simple. At the end of the day, her bagel was delicious and covered in butter (same as mine,) so why did it matter that she took a different path to get there?
- Reactions to situations have the power to change the situation itself. I could have very easily made the butter culprit feel guilty. She might never have eaten a bagel again because of me (what a true shame that would be.) Instead, her reaction to my moment made me do some self-reflection and realize how absolutely absurd my moment was.
- Maybe in the end, I was actually the villain. I mean, come on. I literally gave myself a moment over a stick of butter.