Cuts Like a Knife

For the first time in my life, I bought a high-quality set of knives. I had decided to give the old ones to my son, who was preparing to leave for his sophomore year of college. He’s in a dorm that’s set up like an apartment building and needed kitchen stuff. So I sharpened up the old set — some of them had been my grandmother’s — and packed them up with their old wooden block, for his new kitchen.

So I had the perfect reason to finally buy a decent set of knives, like an actual adult. I did my research and found a set that seemed like a reasonable balance between price and quality.

And then, the very first time he used one of our shiny new knives, my husband managed to slice his left index finger, necessitating a trip to Urgent Care for stitches. A few days later, I was using one of the new knives, and I sliced my own left index finger. It was deep, but didn’t seem big enough to need stitches, so I used some antibiotic cream and a bandage, and I think it’ll heal. Yes, the new knives are way sharper than the old ones. That’s going to take some getting used to.

Or maybe we’re just too klutzy to have nice things.