A perfectly lovely person I work with is getting married. She's registered at 3 stores. She doesn't cook. She told me this. I have no problem with that, cooking isn't for everyone. I do have a hard time relating to it. I love to cook, and the more I learn about it, and the more I try to be healthy, the better I do.

I don't know what to buy her from these lists. I am confused. Why does she want a Kitchen-Aid Mixer (one of my top two kitchen possessions, the other being my Wusthof chef's knife). Why does she want a crock pot? Towels and sheets and bedding and vacuums I understand. Everyone needs those. Even people who don't clean need those.

I think back to pioneer times. Women worked very hard. People made things to give to young couples just starting out. Family heirlooms were saved in hope chests for just that occasion.

Now we make lists of gleaming cheap stuff that will likely wind up in a landfill.