Another Broken Glass

People wonder sometimes why I am so picky about where dishes go in my cupboards. Be they Home Care Aides or friends helping clean up, the placement of dishes in the cupboards makes perfect sense to me, but little sense to anyone else. That's because my dishes are placed in such a way that I can reach the ones I need the, most easily.

For example, I have a small metal stand on my counter. Beneath I have four coffee cups, the ones I use day in and day out. They are easy for me to reach. On the top part of that little shelf, I keep stuff for making espresso, along with one tall glass and one short glass. If I want a cappuccino, all the tools are right there. If I want a glass of Scotch, the glass is near at hand. If I want a tall Rum and Coke, the glass is near at hand.

If I want anything more than these basics, it is most likely because I have company, people who can reach into shelves. So coffee cups, tall glasses, short glasses and such are all kept on the second shelf of my corner cabinet, where reaching them is awkward for me without the aid of a grabby stick. The first shelf is reserved for wine glasses and cappuccino cups. I have lots of wine glasses but only four of the bowl type cappuccino cups, and they are all within easy grabby stick reach.

The same with plates. The plates I use most are on the first shelf of the cupboard. The bowls and matching coffee cups are on the second shelf. I rarely use them for myself. If there is company, they can help get dishes. That pattern, ease of access and probability of use drives all my cupboard placements. If I don't use it often, it goes up. If I use it often, it stays down.

With pots and things in the lower cupboards, it's not such a big deal. I want to avoid using the lower shelves if I can. Fortunately all of my lower shelves slide out, making getting at things a lot easier. The only exception is the Lazy Susan in my corner cupboard. Once again I try to keep oft used things like salad and mixing bowls on the top shelf. Roasters, the slow cooker and rice cooker, and my stock pot all go on the bottom. I can get them if I need them, which is not all that often.

There is a price to all of this, and today I paid that price. My new Home Care Aide, not understanding the placement of things, put my Scotch glass on the second shelf with all the other drinking glasses. She put my wine glasses up there too. Then she put my daily coffee cups on the first shelf. I was not there to micro-manage things, so they ended up in the wrong spots.

When I came into the kitchen to resolve this state of disarray, I got the coffee cups without issue. They were, after all, one the first shelf and easy to get with the grabby stick. On the other hand my Scotch glass was on the second shelf. I grabbed it with the stick, lifted it from the shelf, and promptly dropped it. The glass shattered when it hit the counter, spewing small shards of glass all over my kitchen.

I did my best to clean it up. I got the other glasses organized without disaster. But now I am short another glass, and a Scotch glass at that. Now I have to buy more Scotch glasses. So aside from the physical and emotional effort of arranging my glassware and breaking it, there is an actual real dollar cost here. So don't give me shit if I micro-manage. You probably don't get it. You probably don't know all the reasons. And I'm tired of constantly having to explain myself all the time.