Now We're Slapping With Gas

Have you ever thought of something and then said (or heard someone else say): "I don't know what made me think of that"? Well, if you think about it, what made us think of that was our brain. But I don't know what made me think of THAT. Anyway, for some reason known only to my brain, it made me think of how chefs sometimes light their gas stoves. It's a technique handed down from time memorial (since gas stoving hasn't been around beyond that) and it just occured to me that it's a rather nifty trick. What they'll do is, after turning the knob to get the gas going, they will take a 10 inch sautee pan and slap it on the burner. This causes the gas to hurry on over to the pilot without building up and making a big ball of fire as stoves with powerful vent fans often do without the pan slap. It's a dance; it's poetry; it's what a chef does. Sometimes. Reminds me of the hystrionic woman in older movies who, when slapped, says something like, "Thanks. I needed that." Reminds me of the slap to the forehead when I remember that I could have had a V8. The movie slap makes for a more even-burning flame. The V8 slap hopes to serve as a reminder that things are better, smoother, if you grab a V8 next time. It's all about the corrective slap. The slap wakes things up. The slap enlivens. Sometimes it takes a good slap in the face to get our lives back on track. Or to hop over to another one. And if your rear isn't working, try slapping it.