Niche is one of those words that, to my liking, is spelled wrong. Shouldn’t it be “nitch?” Like stitch or switch or, well you get the idea. But no, it is niche. It means a little something that enhances a bigger something. Or something like that.
Within a business you can have more little businesses. They are referred to as niche markets or niche businesses. Like a coffee bar in a grocery store. A travel agency in a hardware store. Something or some service that is not usually offered at a particular business but enhances a business to bring in more business for the business that added the niche business. Whew.
For the purpose of this little story a niche is a small area that is overlooked until it is completely un-overlookable. Like my silverware drawer.
Okay it isn’t real silverware. It is stainless flatware. I don’t know why it is called flatware. The forks aren’t flat. The spoons aren’t flat. Even the knives have some sort of curve so they aren’t flat either. But this whole thing is falling flat–let’s pick it up a bit.
My silverware drawer looks like what I imagine a whole slew of silverware drawers look like. Knives, forks and spoons. Odds and ends too. There are some tiny forks that are at the ready to use on pickles or crab or olives. Things that I use my fingers on. Then there are old swizzle sticks from a drink here and there. A small gravy ladle, measuring spoons and on and on. But there is something else in there.
Dirt. Dust. Fuzzy stuff that just, poof, appears. Of course this isn’t the first time I have seen this extra stuff in the plastic “hold the forks et al. in their place” holder that sits in the drawer. Mine is blue. Anyway, recently I took a day off and did not do dishes and found myself using the last fork in the drawer and when I pulled it out there were these little piles of added attractions hiding in the corners of the fork’s home slot. So what do you think I did?
Ah not yet. First let’s just figure out where these niche dust bunnies come from. There is supposed to be only clean, dry, ready to eat from utensils in that drawer right? Well if that is so where do the little pieces of food particles that look like sand or toast crumbs come from?
No articles of clothes get stuffed in the drawer between the big spoons and the little spoons so where did the fuzz that looks like the stuff from my dryer lint trap come from?
I don’t comb my hair over the open silverware drawer so I have not a clue where the hair, that is entwined in that far to the left slot that holds the odds and ends, happened to come from. Ah these are more of the questions of life where you can fill in whatever answers you feel fit the situation because sometimes there just isn’t an answer to fit the question. I wonder why that is? Ah another question to answer one way or another.
But now your wait is over. Just what did I do with the small piles of hidden treasures I found when I took that last fork out of the tray? The fuzz, food, fine particles all laughing at me. Mocking my house keeping skills. Well I huffed and I puffed and I blew at them, that’s what I did. I blew the top corners then the bottom corners. It all dispersed into a little cloud. Got some stuff in my left eye too.
I will of course take the time to empty the whole drawer and wash each and every knife, fork, big spoon, little spoon, tiny fork, ladle, picks and shovels and all that I find in there. Every piece and the tray and the drawer too. Should last until Thanksgiving when I’m sure we will at least once get down to the last fork!
