I'm Glad I'm Ornery: Life Lessons from a Stove Toucher

I might be the most stubborn person I know.

No, really. 

When I reflect on my childhood experiences, one big realization comes to mind: I learned everything the hard way.  

No matter how many times they told me, “Gina, don’t touch that, it’s hot.” 

I just had to know for sure.  

Dozens of tears and I-told-you-so Band-Aids later, I stopped touching the stove, or “Hot Kitchen Monster,” as it came to be known in my imagination. 

You might think that the increasingly precarious trials of adulthood would have changed a lot about how I approach life’s obstacles. 

Live, learn, start taking more people’s advice –– the sensible route. 

Nope. 

Although plenty of well-meaning people frequently advise me on the so-called prudent and practical ways of doing things, something just doesn’t click. I’m always (naively or arrogantly, depending on how you look at it – I prefer ‘creatively’) looking for a different way to do it. 

​Why does it have to be done that way? Are you sure? Have you tried it this way? Why not?

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