Gadgets

     I love gadgets! I am intrigued by the versatility of most gadgets. I have a plethora of gadgets at home, at work, and in my vehicle. The best kinds of gadgets are the homemade ones, ones that replace a forgotten or misplaced item.
 
     My latest gadget-invention happened at work a few weeks ago when I ran out of large paper bowls. I use these particular bowls to put salad in. Despite adding large paper bowls to my work-week grocery list, I still forgot to buy them. Each Monday afternoon, I go to the local grocery store  and buy lunch for the week: a box of baby spinach and baby kale leaves, a rotisserie chicken, a bag of shredded or small-chunk cheese, and, if need be, a bottle of salad dressing and a bag of croutons. This list is so ingrained in my mind that I habitually add the items to my basket and head straight for the cashier without giving any other item a second thought. Just because I add something else to the list does not mean I’m going to be mindful of that item while I’m at the grocery store. This was exactly the case with the large paper bowls a few weeks ago.

     When supper time rolled around and I opened the file drawer to take out a large paper bowl for the salad, I realized I had forgotten to buy that item. What was I going to do then? I didn’t really want to put the salad on one of the paper plates I have; I really wanted a bowl.

     Thankfully, I’m blessed with ingenuity (inherited from my parents). I grabbed a paper plate and folded the sides inward so that I could create a paper bowl. I added the spinach and kale and then added some pieces of the rotisserie chicken, a few sprinkles of the cheese, ample amounts of salad dressing, and topped everything off with a bunch of croutons. The paper-plate-bowl held up for the duration of eating the salad. For the rest of that week, I simply made paper-plate-bowls and added the salad fixings to them.

     I have since bought a package of large paper bowls, but, I think that when I run out of them, I’m not going to buy any more packages. I’m just going to restock the paper plates and make bowls from them. Ideally, for those readers who think I’m wasting paper and killing trees, I guess I could probably bring in a standard bowl and fork from home and use them for salads. However, I’m not that type of person. I’m the kind of person who relishes convenience and who doesn’t have very much time from the end of supper to the start of my evening class, so the act of throwing away the bowl and fork on my way out the door helps me get to class on time.

     In the realm of gadgets, if I can make them so that my life is a bit easier, I’m going to do my best to construct them. Especially this semester, convenience is key, and gadgets that make it more palatable are a definite plus.