Now that's service!

I had an eye-opening experience the other day when I went shopping for a silver wedding anniversary present. In fact, it’s a good thing the couple I was shopping for has been married only sixteen years, because I might need a while to make this decision.

I went to a store (a silver store) and approached the saleslady confidently, saying I wanted a “silver server.” She said, “For what type of food?”

“Does it matter?” I responded. I’d been picturing something like a fancy cake-slicer or maybe a large, embellished spoon. The woman behind the counter strained to reign in her disapproval of my ignorance.

“See, with silver, the food makes a difference,” she explained, talking as if I were a child. “Do you want a fruit or vegetable server?” She then whipped out:

the ornately confusing asparagus server

the oh-so-tempting pea server, with its sweet countenance and just the right amount of shallow depth















the “I’m not sure this’ll work” tomato server

the intriguingly bent-edged cranberry server (I tried to picture cranberries rolling from this little shelf, not sure why it was distinguished in this way from the tomato server, but afraid to reveal even more of my stupidity).

I said no, I didn’t think I wanted any of those, as attractive as they were.

“A pasta server, maybe?” she suggested, opening another display case. I was ready for something resembling the black plastic device I use as a pasta server:

a nice, all-around basic, but most people have one of these, don’t they?

yet I was somehow unprepared for

the no-nonsense utility of the lasagna server, which looked suspiciously like a spatula, but I held my tongue

or the unexpected asymmetrical beauty of the macaroni server, although it looked like it might rough up the macaroni, or expect too much attention

or the pleasing appropriateness of the shell server. I was seriously thinking about buying this one, about ready to leave.

But she wasn’t finished.

“Something from the sea?” she asked, cradling

the sardine server, which I found very pleasing to look at, but how often does anyone serve sardines? So I passed on it as well.

Her impatience was growing, but her list of silver serving devices was still quite large. Eventually we returned to the idea of fruits and vegetables, having exhausted many other options. And I think I’ve settled on this little beauty:

The scalloped potato server. But I didn’t buy it yet. I still need to see about 20 other selections, according to my saleslady, and the store was closing by this time, so I’m still undecided.