glowingfish (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
glowingfish) wrote2025-01-29 11:10 am
glowingfish) wrote2025-01-29 11:10 am
A very specific annoyance
This has happened twice in the past week. And has happened many times in my life!
In two conversations, I mentioned preparing food using ready made ingredients, in one case pancake mix, in the other, refried beans. And in both cases, people said, with somewhat condescending voices "Well, why don't you just get some flour and baking powder" or "It is a lot cheaper to get dried beans and..."
Well, the reason for that is quite simple: I am staying in a one room AirBnb with a kitchenette that has two hot plates, a microwave, an electric kettle and a rice maker. And about two square feet of counter space and a tiny sink that rapidly fills up if I do anything. And a single cupboard that is already overflowing just from a few items.
Things that might be "easy" for people in a complete kitchen are not easy for me here. Like, I could do these things, but it would be prohibitively complicated and messy. And for very little return: I would probably be saving a few dollars for my troubles.
The context of why I moved to a foreign country and am staying in an AirBnB is not so I can have elegant, home cooked meals from scratch. The context of why I am here is to do things that I couldn't do otherwise, and having to live on a fairly basic and repetitive diet, and having to buy prepared ingredients, is a price I am willing to pay to get an experience that I couldn't have otherwise, not something I am doing because I am too stupid to know what flour is.
Also, these conversations are usually, or always, with women, who seem to assume that I am a dumb dude who only knows how to microwave macaroni and cheese and that I need their guidance about cooking. :/
In two conversations, I mentioned preparing food using ready made ingredients, in one case pancake mix, in the other, refried beans. And in both cases, people said, with somewhat condescending voices "Well, why don't you just get some flour and baking powder" or "It is a lot cheaper to get dried beans and..."
Well, the reason for that is quite simple: I am staying in a one room AirBnb with a kitchenette that has two hot plates, a microwave, an electric kettle and a rice maker. And about two square feet of counter space and a tiny sink that rapidly fills up if I do anything. And a single cupboard that is already overflowing just from a few items.
Things that might be "easy" for people in a complete kitchen are not easy for me here. Like, I could do these things, but it would be prohibitively complicated and messy. And for very little return: I would probably be saving a few dollars for my troubles.
The context of why I moved to a foreign country and am staying in an AirBnB is not so I can have elegant, home cooked meals from scratch. The context of why I am here is to do things that I couldn't do otherwise, and having to live on a fairly basic and repetitive diet, and having to buy prepared ingredients, is a price I am willing to pay to get an experience that I couldn't have otherwise, not something I am doing because I am too stupid to know what flour is.
Also, these conversations are usually, or always, with women, who seem to assume that I am a dumb dude who only knows how to microwave macaroni and cheese and that I need their guidance about cooking. :/