Sheldon Logic

Dearest Reader, I am a fan of the Big Bang Theory, the CBS sitcom whose plot revolves around four "nerds" and the attractive neighbor girl (and in later seasons, all the girlfriends).  I find it is a very clever show that is very funny.  One of the main characters (in case you don't follow the show) is Dr. Sheldon Cooper.  Sheldon is a genius but can have issues with everyday situations (which leads to the show's hilarious plots).  One if his famous quotes is:

Today, I had a situation where I could identify with Sheldon.  I assist a friend at her antique shop a couple of days a week.  While I certainly don't expect people to know as much as I do about certain topics, I would expect people who collect antiques to have a basic understanding of history.  Allow me to set the situation up for you.

On Monday, I assisted my friend in moving a matched three piece bedroom set (bed, dresser, and washstand) that is about 150 years old into the shop.  If you aren't versed in antiques, you need to understand how rare this is.  First of all, a family would need to be quite well off to afford three pieces all at once.  It was much more common for a bedroom to be pieced together as the family could afford it.  Secondly, these three pieces have remained together for 150 years.

Today we had a gentleman come in and look at the bedroom set. He was so blown away by its beauty and rarity, he called his wife and told her she needed to come look at it. This couple have been customers of my friends for many years (so they aren't novice collectors). When his wife came in my friend was busy helping another customer so I answered her questions about it. The conversation went like this:

Customer: "About how old is this set?"
Me: "It's Civil War Era."
Customer: "I'm sorry, I don't know when this was."
Me: "1860-1865."

It took everything I had to remain polite.  It was right then I had my "Sheldon" moment. How is it possible to not know when the Civil War was, especially if you collect antiques? I almost had to look around for cameras to make sure I wasn't on Candid Camera or Jay-Walking.  I don't mean to sound like a pompous know-it-all, but come on! That would almost like being an English teacher then asking a co-worker who Shakespeare was.

On the upside, it did give me something to blog about...

Until Tomorrow - Melissa