I knew a girl in grad school in Austin who once told me during the course of our conversation that she would never want a microwave oven. I admire the contrarian and I can respect and often applaud opinions held contrary to current trends.
However, it stuck me at the time as the kind of statement that one could regret. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but for the rest of your life - going without a microwave oven could indeed be a regrettable vow. I did not pursue the reasoning or feelings behind such an opinion, though I can surmise it had less to do with Luddite affiliations and more to do with her innate Calvinistic nature. Where tea water has always been brought to a boil in a stove top kettle, and if one wants to melt cheese on one's sandwich, there is a way to do such a thing that is decent and in order, meet and proper so to do; and that way is to place the food into an oven of the conventional variety. Microwaves just did not quite fit into the proper ethic of food preparation - in some people's opinion anyway. It is kind of like cheating.
Well, of course that contrarian Calvinist later asked me to marry her, and after discussing and settling our differing views on appliances, I eventually did marry her. Later, we two bought a home with a microwave oven built-in. This current home had the original functioning microwave oven for 23 years, until one morning in early December we found it cold and dead. The microwave was in fact so old, that the owner's manual did not even list an email address or website for product assistance, but rather provided an address to which an owner experiencing a problem could write to and post a letter. How quaint.
I unbolted the cold carcass of the former quick and faithful food warmer and hauled it to the curb for Wednesday's bulky item pick up by the city. Living for a few days with a empty space between the cabinetry and the range top was a physical reminder of the integral part the microwave oven plays in our daily life patterns. Truly, with only the touch a few buttons, a multitude of task were accomplished. The microwave oven had ingrained itself deeply into our lives. With a quick bit of research on the internet, we narrowed our choices and moved to quickly replace that appliance. The old unit was 13" deep, but no such model exists any more, so we have a 16" deep MW that juts out a bit. The new profile makes all of us think the MW door has been left open, but then we realize it is just the allusion created by the bigger than accustomed new MW..
I measured twice, drilled a set of holes; then reread the installation instructions, and measured once again, only to drill another set of holes through the overhead cabinet. With several hands supporting the unit, it was lifted into place and the second set of bolt holes actually flanged up to the location of the mounting holes in the top of the oven. The familiar kitchen routines and timing have now been restored as they were.
I reminded my wife of her "never need or want a microwave oven" quote, and suggested that we test the newly installed MW oven model by having her eat those words - but of course, first we could put those old words into the new MW oven, and heat them quickly before she eats them. Ah, those Calvinist have such a good sense of humor.
PS - I recall the old hit TV show from the 1960's & 70"s, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In; where they would hand out on air the "Fickle Finger of Fate Award", a dubious honor for some ridiculous statement or achievement. One night, the inventor of a new device, supposedly able to quickly cook food using microwaves while keeping the bowl cool, got the Fickle Finger of Fate Award, with the punch line being something like: "I suppose we can now cook an 8,000 pound chicken in only 20 minutes." Who's laughing now?
However, it stuck me at the time as the kind of statement that one could regret. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but for the rest of your life - going without a microwave oven could indeed be a regrettable vow. I did not pursue the reasoning or feelings behind such an opinion, though I can surmise it had less to do with Luddite affiliations and more to do with her innate Calvinistic nature. Where tea water has always been brought to a boil in a stove top kettle, and if one wants to melt cheese on one's sandwich, there is a way to do such a thing that is decent and in order, meet and proper so to do; and that way is to place the food into an oven of the conventional variety. Microwaves just did not quite fit into the proper ethic of food preparation - in some people's opinion anyway. It is kind of like cheating.
Well, of course that contrarian Calvinist later asked me to marry her, and after discussing and settling our differing views on appliances, I eventually did marry her. Later, we two bought a home with a microwave oven built-in. This current home had the original functioning microwave oven for 23 years, until one morning in early December we found it cold and dead. The microwave was in fact so old, that the owner's manual did not even list an email address or website for product assistance, but rather provided an address to which an owner experiencing a problem could write to and post a letter. How quaint.
I unbolted the cold carcass of the former quick and faithful food warmer and hauled it to the curb for Wednesday's bulky item pick up by the city. Living for a few days with a empty space between the cabinetry and the range top was a physical reminder of the integral part the microwave oven plays in our daily life patterns. Truly, with only the touch a few buttons, a multitude of task were accomplished. The microwave oven had ingrained itself deeply into our lives. With a quick bit of research on the internet, we narrowed our choices and moved to quickly replace that appliance. The old unit was 13" deep, but no such model exists any more, so we have a 16" deep MW that juts out a bit. The new profile makes all of us think the MW door has been left open, but then we realize it is just the allusion created by the bigger than accustomed new MW..
I measured twice, drilled a set of holes; then reread the installation instructions, and measured once again, only to drill another set of holes through the overhead cabinet. With several hands supporting the unit, it was lifted into place and the second set of bolt holes actually flanged up to the location of the mounting holes in the top of the oven. The familiar kitchen routines and timing have now been restored as they were.
I reminded my wife of her "never need or want a microwave oven" quote, and suggested that we test the newly installed MW oven model by having her eat those words - but of course, first we could put those old words into the new MW oven, and heat them quickly before she eats them. Ah, those Calvinist have such a good sense of humor.
PS - I recall the old hit TV show from the 1960's & 70"s, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In; where they would hand out on air the "Fickle Finger of Fate Award", a dubious honor for some ridiculous statement or achievement. One night, the inventor of a new device, supposedly able to quickly cook food using microwaves while keeping the bowl cool, got the Fickle Finger of Fate Award, with the punch line being something like: "I suppose we can now cook an 8,000 pound chicken in only 20 minutes." Who's laughing now?
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