I've probably told this story a million times, but anyway...
My butcher is a third generation family business man who loves to talk. I was in the market for some new knives and so I thought I'd ask him what knives he bought for himself. "Oh, I don't own my knives" he replies. I think he must be joking, for surely a butchers knife must be a prized possession, probably handed down from his father and his father's father before that. But no, he doesn't even own his knives. Intrigued I press on for more information, and with a little reluctance that is probably more show than anything else he starts back in. "Well, how can I put this?" He looks around conspiratorially at this point for emphasis. "My family has been in the business for a long time, and in this business you form relationships with other families. Other families in other businesses. And one of those is knife sharpening. You see there's a family on Staten Island in the, uh, knife sharpening business, and I rent my knives from them. They come every week and give me sharp knives and take my old knives away with them for sharpening."
I'm still sort of shocked that a butcher wouldn't want to own his own knives and I guess he picks up on this. "It's totally up to me," he stressses, "I mean, I can rent my knives from them or not...." He pauses here for just exactly long enough to make this story - although not necessarily my retelling of it - a classic: "... but either way I pay."
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My butcher is a third generation family business man who loves to talk. I was in the market for some new knives and so I thought I'd ask him what knives he bought for himself. "Oh, I don't own my knives" he replies. I think he must be joking, for surely a butchers knife must be a prized possession, probably handed down from his father and his father's father before that. But no, he doesn't even own his knives. Intrigued I press on for more information, and with a little reluctance that is probably more show than anything else he starts back in. "Well, how can I put this?" He looks around conspiratorially at this point for emphasis. "My family has been in the business for a long time, and in this business you form relationships with other families. Other families in other businesses. And one of those is knife sharpening. You see there's a family on Staten Island in the, uh, knife sharpening business, and I rent my knives from them. They come every week and give me sharp knives and take my old knives away with them for sharpening."
I'm still sort of shocked that a butcher wouldn't want to own his own knives and I guess he picks up on this. "It's totally up to me," he stressses, "I mean, I can rent my knives from them or not...." He pauses here for just exactly long enough to make this story - although not necessarily my retelling of it - a classic: "... but either way I pay."
- jim 8-01-2009 10:12 pm