Dinner sets

2019 has been a year of change. Learning lots of new things in a new city. One of the biggest learning has been how to manage money on a student budget.

I currently study in New Zealand. I live on-campus accommodation, so naturally, my flat’s kitchen isn’t the most put together. Truth be told, I have one black cup and one black bowl for my own use. And then there are some random things you can find in the kitchen. Plates that don’t match. Knives that aren’t sharp enough; forks that are a little too sharp. Random boxes collected. Hardly a put-together collection.

And one day as I was staring at my shelf of mismatched cutlery, and pots and pans (the lids, as usual, had gone for a walk, God knows where) I began to think about dinner sets. Not just plates and bowls that you use every day, but perfect, pristine dinner sets.

Pretty much every home has them. Perfectly matching, clean, and sparkling, inviting you warmly to dine, and I began to wonder why everyone wants to own them. True they look put together and probably are washed, dried, and stored away in a special cabinet, as soon as dinner is done, but does owning them mean your kitchen is better that much better?Does it mean you never burn a dish accidentally, or have to spend an inordinate amount of time sometimes ‘fixing’ a dish you have overcooked, undercooked, or not seasoned perfectly? (no one does that? just me? Okay.)

What do these perfect dinner sets really mean? Are they just aesthetically pleasing? If movies and television shows are to be believed, they often have some deep symbolic meaning. Their presence seeks to cover up imperfections and flaws of the dysfunctional family that gathers around to eat in silence. They are depicted to be reminders of a happy era gone by. Or maybe they’re just there because they look like perfect social and economic markers because God knows our world needs more of those…

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure you’re very happy with your beautiful dinner set. Someday, I’m sure I’ll buy the perfect dinner set, and I know I’ll be very happy with mine.

I just hope I won’t spend my days wondering why.

For now, I have one cup, and one bowl. And I’m doing just fine.