OUO | Flash Post 432

I know UFO stands for unidentified flying object. What does OUO stand for?

I’ll allow you three guesses, Button.

The U stands for “unidentified” I think and the O stands for “object”! Could the first O stand for “other”?

There you go. And, what is the object?

A magnifying glass!

No.

A bubble blower!

Wrong again.

Well, it looks similar to a bubble blower to me. The kind we used to blow bubbles through as kids.

I know what a bubble blower is, Button. Every kid blows bubbles at some stage of her growing up years but that’s not it.

Since you have clicked the picture, I am guessing you know what it is! Is it a spoon?

On the day Dost and I arrived in Dubai both of us needed a cup of tea. I put the water to boil, pulled out two mugs, a couple of tea bags and proceeded to make tea. After pouring the water into both mugs, I looked for a spoon to stir the tea with but failed. In the meantime, I was getting anxious because the golden-hued liquor we are used to drinking was getting darker by the second and I knew Dost would throw a fit. I finally called housekeeping to ask them where they had placed the spoons.

This is like a game we used to play as kids called Find Me If You Can!

Yes, Button. I know you love that game.

Did you find the spoon?

There were two and they had been placed perpendicularly right next to the tea mugs in a dark-blue velvet case all their own!

So I guessed right the third time!

You did.

But why is there a hollow in the centre? Or is it made of glass? It’s very unlike a spoon I have seen!

It’s not like I had not spotted them but my idea of a spoon, like yours, is something that has a concave, oval-shaped solid metallic part with a handle attached to it. This OUO had a rim and, after lifting it out of its case, I discovered that the centre was hollow. And the handle was so short that I had to hold it with my finger tips to stir the liquid in the mug! And then it clicked.

What?

That the spoon was meant for cups—not mugs—and that was the reason why it did not have a longer handle? Incidentally, placed beside the mugs were 2 small cups—meant for espresso coffee I am assuming—and some coffee pods with the word LavAzza printed across the top.

But the hollow part of the spoon? How do you explain that? How would you mix, say for instance, instant coffee powder with milk or water to make a smooth paste before pouring more water?

You’re talking about the instant coffee we are familiar with where the coffee powder is mixed with sugar and water or milk to make a creamy paste before adding more water or milk.

You think someone designed the differently-abled spoon?

Possibly but let me check.

And?

It should have struck me that someone must have designed it because it was so unique. After you asked, I actually went and found something scrawled on the handle and, on checking it out closely, found Davide Oldani per LavAzza inscribed on the handle of the spoon. Oldani is one of the worlds most reputed Italian chefs and designers and designs for LavAssa which is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products.

I still don’t get why the spoon is hollow where it’s not supposed to be!

He thought that one through too.

So, there is a reason for the hollow?

He designed the spoon with a hollow to stir sugar into a cup of coffee without breaking up the crema on top and preserve the full aroma of the espresso.

It was wrong on my part to have called it differently-abled!