Our friendly Tupperware lady, while modeling the latest in Tupperware’s spring line, explained that the microwavable dish she was holding in front of her was perfect for a no-muss, no-fuss cake. She explained: the only two ingredients needed for this cake were a box of my favorite boxed-cake mix and a can of soda pop. Then, pop it in the microwave (in a convenient Tupperware dish) and viola! A no-muss, no-fuss cake in minutes.
As I sat listening to this spiel, I tried to find an occasion in my life when making a boxed cake with the requisite ingredients of water, eggs and oil in 25 minutes would be too much work or would take too long. Why would I not have time to wait for a cake to bake in the oven? And if I was jonesing that badly, why wouldn’t I just go to a bakery or a restaurant and buy cake?
Suddenly, Tupperware represented an aspect of domesticity foreign to me.
You see, in order to utilize Tupperware, one is supposed to keep quantities of food in the house; i.e., pounds of flour, dozens of cookies, many Goldfish crackers. When I grocery shop, I commonly think, “This looks good for dinner,” and that is all I buy. And as this is my grocery shopping strategy, there aren’t leftovers in my refrigerator that aren’t in a to-go box.
Representative of my homemaker skills, I remember a while back I was prepping for a party, making artichoke dip. My roommate sat watching me pull ingredients out of the refrigerator. I pulled mayonnaise and cream cheese, both of which had expired, but didn’t smell bad, so I used them to make the dip. No one complained and the dish was emptied by the end of the night; nor did I hear of any cases of food poisoning the next day. All the same, this does not bode well for my domestic skills. (And I am sure my mother is disappointed in me.)
The other thing about this Tupperware experience that puzzled me is that a cake in minutes in the microwave seems to take away the anticipation of waiting for a cake to come out of the oven, seems to take away the joy of smelling the rich chocolate baking, seems to take away the salivation that would make Pavlov proud. It is instant gratification, for heaven’s sake!
A little more than a year ago, Western Union discontinued their telegram service. (I have had an idealistic, romantic vision of having a telegram sent to me for years.) A few months later, Kodak announced that they were ceasing production of black and white film. These things are nostalgic and remind me of days when I didn’t need everything immediately. It was a sad spring 2006.
I believe that some things should still be slow and full of anticipation. A first kiss and the moments leading up to it, for example, should still put butterflies in my stomach. A love letter should still be hand written and not typed, in my opinion. Photographs – especially those taken at an arm’s length of my girlfriend and me – should still be a surprise when I have them developed. Dinners should be about having conversations with people I care about.
I worry, sometimes, that our future generations are going to be in such a hurry, are going to spend so much time eating fast food, are going to be so used to instant gratification and immediate connection via mobile phones that they will not be able to enjoy the niceties of life.
But alas, as there might be a point in my life when I do want to keep a five pound bag of flour in Tupperware, I am going to another Tupperware party later this week. Maybe I will jot down the recipe for the microwavable cake and try it out. Maybe it isn't so bad. I don’t want to judge a book by its cover.
• "A Single Serving" appears second and fourth Mondays every month, exclusively in Lumino Magazine. E-mail Melissa at m.koss@yahoo.com. Photo of Melissa by Anne Coloso.
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Joe says:
Written by Guest on 2007-04-24 11:25:12
Great column this week. I feel the same way about the instant gratification. Slow and steady wins the race. |
mom
Written by Guest on 2007-04-24 19:39:50
 It seems you don't subscribe to your father's philosophy of keeping a well-stocked pantry. |
speaking of...
Written by Guest on 2007-04-24 22:44:33
I got the pictures off my disposable camera printed off. they are not so great though. and i did it in one hour developing so i suppose that is also instant gratification. |
so true
Written by Guest on 2007-04-27 21:04:20
so true! |
