12 OCTOBER 2024 WorldWide Drilling Resource® Getting Bigger by Rick Jordan Retired Mineral Processing Engineer It seems that things are getting bigger. We recently decided to purchase a new refrigerator for no other reason than my wife wants a new one. We remodeled our kitchen several years ago and installed cabinets to accommodate a standard size refrigerator. Today’s standard size refrigerator is both wider and taller than our refrigerator and won’t fit between or below our cabinets. Unless I replace our cabinets, we will have to special order a refrigerator to fit. Why do refrigerators have to be larger now than before? It’s not only refrigerators. Modern coffee cups hold 10, 12, or maybe even 16 ounces. I still drink from the same cups I used decades ago and they hold 8 ounces. I guess our bodies require more caffeine these days. Dinner plates have also grown. I compare our flatware with my daughter and son-in-law’s newer plates, and their plates are two inches larger in diameter. Why? Restaurant food portions have also grown. It used to be an omelet was made with two eggs. The twoegg omelet is now a Seniors’ menu entrée. A three-egg omelet is now the norm, and I’ve seen people order five-egg omelets. Are more people overweight today because food portions have grown, or have food portions grown because people tend to eat more now? And let’s not forget houses. When I was growing up, it was common for a family of six or eight to dwell comfortably in a 1200-square-foot abode. A couple with two children today has to live in at least a 2400-square-foot home with bay windows and vaulted ceilings. And not only houses. In 1964, my dad built a garage that was 30 feet by 40 feet, with 12-foot ceilings. It was the biggest private residence garage in town at the time. People are building garages twice that size nowadays with 16-foot ceilings. Teenagers have bigger feet today than when I was a kid. Since I was 16, I’ve worn a size 10 shoe just like most of my friends. My son is about the same height and weight as me, but he wears a 13½ shoe. A local shoe store displays a huge basketball shoe in their window. When I was in high school, the display shoe was size 17. They now display a size 24 shoe. What happened? Everything is not growing, though. Not too many years ago, a toilet paper roll was 4½ inches wide. Today’s toilet paper is 3¾ inches wide. Figure that one out! Rick Rick Jordan may be contacted via e-mail to michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk4Mzk=