The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
This past weekend I went to a party and happened to step into the kitchen just as the hostess was involved in some complex dishwasher-loading calculations.

She asked me many questions that I had no idea how to answer. Should these things go this or that way? Was placing thing X in Y manner an inefficient use of space? I'm afraid I wasn't much help. I've gotten much better at using my own dishwasher--a far cry from the days when I used to marvel at how my mother could always rearrange things to find the space needed for that one extra thing. Actually, I'm now quite proud of myself; my dishwasher arranging skills are evidence that I've grown into my spatial intelligence. But her queries were too technical for me.

"Asians don't use dishwashers!" she shrieked. Apparently, she only had the dishwasher installed or repaired (I forget which) because she rented out her place over the summer and thought that an American renter would want such a convenience.

I was at a loss as how to really be of use, but tried to make encouraging comments. Although I confessed to growing up with a dishwasher, I didn't have the heart to tell her that while many middle-class Americans use dishwashers, we don't actually think about them.