What is your opinion on the quote "If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen"?

Don’t pursue things you have absolutely no natural inclination towards

I’m sure there’s some kind of misogynistic reading of the quote that you can explore in two pages.

Well, you do know where it started, don’t you? Basically it means, if you can’t deal with what other people are dealing with, quit bitching and leave.

Well, you could relate it to sexism. Isms are good in papers.

Im sure Tyler Perry could write a book about this. *eyeroll.

Write about Harry Truman. He also said, The Buck Stops Here.

Whew! This is a tough one to squeeze out two pages on.

@pdworkin was right to mention Truman…that way you’d get your full two pages. And, if you can’t take this hint, you should do some more research on the origin of this quote. ;)

I usually hear this quote when someone is actually cooking. I hate cooking, so I don’t mind getting out of the kitchen.

That’s a pretty stupid assignment. I’d go on to talk about that quote and other quotes like it, and where they come from. You could write your paper on the evolution of language.

@Haleth

Keep in mind it’s only two pages.

Well, start with where the quote originated. Draw that out, which you can if you try to help your reader visualize the hardship of cooking over a wood burning stove, on a 100 + degree summer day, in long, heavy skirts and heavy shoes, long before the advent of air conditioning. You could get a whole page out of that. Just start writing, and your inspiration will come.

Truman also said: “I didn’t fire him [General MacArthur] because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that’s not against the law for generals. If it was, half to three quarters of them would be in jail.” I think you could write about if he could get away with language like that if he were president today.

what was the phrase referng to originally? was it his cabinet members?

@jdogg Um, where does the quote tie in to politics?

You are in the situation of your own doing, and if it is uncomfortable for you, then leave it

@Val123 Scroll up and learn something. YLF.

@jdogg – The history of the remark is here:

“This is widely reported as being coined by US President Harry S. Truman. That’s almost correct, but in fact Truman was known to have used it at least as early as 1942 – before becoming president. Here’s a citation from an Idaho newspaper The Soda Springs Sun, from July that year:

“Favorite rejoinder of Senator Harry S. Truman, when a member of his war contracts investigating committee objects to his strenuous pace: ‘If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen’.”

it doesn’t, i just assumed since he had a high dissaproval rating they were criticized he said it to his staff….

He also said it in 1949, after becoming president, when warning his staff not to concern themselves over criticism about their appointments:

“I’ll stand by [you] but if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

how come you know so much about Truman?

Because I can Google.

haha, thats cheating!!

No, it isn’t. You have to know something about Truman in the first place in order to find it.

@pdworkin I did look before…and had no idea how it referred to Truman! It wasn’t until the comment under under you explained it…and I’m pretty sure it was an existing quote long before Truman made it. I’ll look.

“The Buck Stops Here” definitely began with someone else as it was documented as a desk sign on someone else’s desk in 1931. In addition, the sign on Truman’s desk was a gift from someone else who saw it on the first guy’s desk and thought Truman would like one like it.

Truman may or may not have originated the “kitchen” quote – he was a “good ol’ boy” from the farm and may have used all sorts of traditional Missouri sayings without attribution. However, Truman never claimed to have originated the quote. He just used it in various forms.

@Darwin Wait a second! OK! I’m 99.99% sure that it did NOT originate with Truman. The reason being is that the quote came into existence in the 18th, 19th, or early 20th century before there was electricity. The farm wives were sometimes in a situation where they were cooking meals, wearing heavy clothing and heavy boots, on a hot, 100+ degree day, over a wood burning stove! I’d bet the kitchen temps hit 120, 130 or more! I’ve heard that if someone complained, or maybe even fainted, that’s what they were told.
Now, if Truman were to “invent” a phrase, don’t you think he’d come up with something he could relate to? Men didn’t cook in those days, but I imagine, if he grew up with no electricity and experienced that heat, the women would shoo him, and others, out of the kitchen, saying that. So, as you said, it was probably something he heard in his childhood, but he didn’t invent it, I’m sure.
This is speculation because I can’t find any verification of what I was told regarding the origin of the phrase (and I don’t really want to look any harder) but it all makes sense. Do you agree?

@Val123 I think that one is: If you can’t take the heat or stand the heat…this one is affiliated w/Truman fo’ sho’

@SpatzieLover I have no doubt that he said it, and since it was him it had the effect of bringing an obscure quote into mainstream America (Who comes to mind, for example when you hear, “Can’t we all just get along?”) I’m just saying he was repeating something he’d heard in childhood. I seriously doubt he made it up.

what a dumb assignment on such an inane and obvious quote. I’d be mad if my kid came home with that as an assignment.

i know…..we have daily quote assignments in journals and all we have to do is explain our opion on the quote in a few sentences, all this essay feels like is stretching those two sentense into two pages…

@trailsillustrated Oh, I don’t know about that. There is something of value in everything. Now, I notice that she had to write an essay on the quote. She didn’t say it had anything to do with Truman, so I wonder if it was a literary assignment and she’s supposed to focus on the quote, or was it a political assignment? Either way, there is a lot to be learned. If it was a literary assignment I’d set my kids off on learning about homesteading in the 19th century. If it was political, I want to know what was going on in America at that time to cause Truman to say it. I don’t view it as a dumb assignment. Just depends on what you try to get out of it.

Whoops! I stand corrected! She stated that it IS a literary assignment, so I would assume it has nothing to do with Truman.
@jdogg Go look at my thoughts, see if that takes you anywhere in your imagination. Good luck, and let us know!

btw just incase you were refering to me as a she…im a guy but sometimes my “girl” friend (not girlfriend) uses my account…if u werent refering to me then oops

Ooops! Well, you know. All Jellyfish look alike! (Sowwy!)

lol

@Val123, true, but it seems busywork to try to sqeeze two pages out of it. but I don’t know what the point of the assignment was so.. you are right, there could be something about it.

is there a way i can show my essay so you can show me what i need to do??? or should i should just wait till tomorrow before school?

I would come up with 2 pages of “If you can’t handle the heat,...”

If you can’t handle the heat, move to Alaska.

If you can’t handle the heat, have a salad for dinner.

If you can’t handle the heat, swim with the Fluther.

If you can’t handle the heat, sit on a block of ice.

If you can’t handle the heat, watch Dr. Zhivago.

If you can’t handle the heat, don’t ski into a volcano

I’d give you a “B” for 2 pages of creativity and making me laugh.

If you can’t stand the heat, strip naked.

@galileogirl THAT IS SO CHEATING!!!!!! If you can’t handle the heat don’t watch Debbie does Dallas
@jdogg You gotta do this yourself….I mean, I’ll read it if you want, and make some comments, ask questions to make you think it over but I WON’T tell you things like, “You should write this “abcd” instead.”

just write two pages of bs about what you think it means, how you feel about it, then turn it in. that’s what I would do.

I’m sorta thinking she isn’t expecting you to put too much thought into it, if the teacher just assigned it today (it was assigned today and not last week, right?) and expects it back by tomorrow, but please, don’t skate, don’t just BS. Please think about it for real.

it was assigned yesterday, the rough draft was due today, and the final draft due tomorrow

creative, well-written bs. stuff that will just sing with wit and irony

Imagine the days of summer in the 1940’s, when the sizzling temperatures are well into the one hundreds, and in the kitchen, the heat from the wood burning stove making it unbearable to stand. In Harry Truman’s household he would have told you get out of the kitchen.
In 1945, Harry Truman became president of the United States and carried a great burden. He was highly criticized and has, to date, the highest president disapproval rate ever. Not only did he get heat from the public, but so did his staff. In 1949, he warned his staff, after a committee member objects to his strenuous pace, “…If you can’t handle the handle, get out of the kitchen”. The term “kitchen” was a common term used for a president’s “inner cabinet” during and after Franklin Roosevelt was president.
I agree with this proverb because it follows common sense. If you can’t handle something, don’t stand and complain about it, either fix the problem, or leave. People who complain and don’t make an effort for what they want to achieve don’t succeed, and can prevent others from being productive. Just because they were chosen for a task and they don’t like it does not mean they can complain and make things further hectic.

this is what i have so far….its only like a page and a quarter

***objected

perfect. it’s great

now, bring it into present day usage

Not to be confused with criticism, non-productive complaining leads nowhere. In the employment world, an employer can easily replace a complaining a disputable employee with a hard working individual. This quote can also be used relatively too teaching too. When a student isn’t performing satisfactorily and the teacher is displeased with the students work, the teacher can’t just tell the student that (s)he is discontent with the students work. The teacher needs to show the student what they need to improve on and help them succeed. For presidents, it could be used as a position on war. If a war is not favorable or uses too many resources, then retreat.

How’s that for modern day usage???

to***......-too

Good start! OK, WHY In Harry Truman’s household he would have told you get out of the kitchen. Why would they have told them that?

the highest president disapproval rate sentence isn’t quite correct….just a few letters on one of the words will stretch it a bit, which is what you want!

its a joke, kinda, because it is hot and if you were complaining….in a literal since….ohh never mind!

_Not only did he get heat from the public, but so did his staff. _ That’s an awesome comparison! Great!!

perhaps, you could on you second page summarize why this quote is still in present day usage ( blah its such a stupid metaphor) but perhaps bring into your summarization that it was born of depression era hardship, and how it applies today, when we have a recession. and make that point your last page. ?

thanks!

@trailsillustrated you are a genious! Great observation!

_The term “kitchen” was a common term used for a president’s “inner cabinet” _ It was? I didn’t know that! Why did they use that term? Seriously, I didn’t know that. Explaining that can give you lots of words!

If you can’t handle something, don’t stand and complain about it, either fix the problem, or leave. Yep. That’s it in a nutshell. Good ending.

takes a bow . happy to help

@jdogg let us know what your grade on its like

I don’t think I’ve seen two pages worth of words yet, have I?

Wait! Up there you said all of this

Imagine the days of summer in the 1940’s, when the sizzling temperatures are well into the one hundreds, and in the kitchen, the heat from the wood burning stove making it unbearable to stand. In Harry Truman’s household he would have told you get out of the kitchen.
In 1945, Harry Truman became president of the United States and carried a great burden. He was highly criticized and has, to date, the highest president disapproval rate ever. Not only did he get heat from the public, but so did his staff. In 1949, he warned his staff, after a committee member objects to his strenuous pace, “…If you can’t handle the handle, get out of the kitchen”. The term “kitchen” was a common term used for a president’s “inner cabinet” during and after Franklin Roosevelt was president.
I agree with this proverb because it follows common sense. If you can’t handle something, don’t stand and complain about it, either fix the problem, or leave. People who complain and don’t make an effort for what they want to achieve don’t succeed, and can prevent others from being productive. Just because they were chosen for a task and they don’t like it does not mean they can complain and make things further hectic

this is what i have so far… .its only like a page and a quarter

How do you figure a page and a quarter? In Word, double spaced, it only comes up to ½ a page, if even that! Are you using an Indian tablet and block letters again?????
PLUS, the days when Truman would have learned the phrase wouldn’t have been in the 40’s. It would have been in his childhood, from 1884 on.

Are there any works that you’ve read so far this semester where you could give examples of how the phrase might have been used?

@april I think he quit. I don’t have any idea how he got two pages out of that little bit, but I guess he did.

I can’t come up with 2 pages but I know some kitchens are very cool and you don’t need to be a heat handler to stay in it.

i also have my header, my title, my “proverb” double spaced, 12 point calabri, and it moved. Not to mention indentations. He said he really doesn’t care very much on length, just quality, and to be honest, none of its very valuable or quality, its over a phrase!!!!

@jdogg I totally agree.

just to let everyone know..if im coming of aggravated (i know its hard to tell emotion over text) its because of this redonkulous essay…not from you all :)

you have to be able to sort of autopilot stuff like this because later if you take a science intensive program- you have to be able to tap this out quickly- I think it’s fine, edit it , spell check it and call it done

Well, say what you want, but I learned a few things and have a new take on the ”(just a) phrase” that I’ve heard all of my life, and that’s of value and quality to me. I didn’t know that Truman made the quote popular, for one, and I didn’t know that “kitchen” was used to describe Eisenhower’s cabinet for another. Now I know that it was (I’m assuming that’s true) but I still don’t know why. If you really want quality, please fill in a few blanks, such as the questions I posted to you. 1) He learned the term sometime soon after 1884 when he was born. It wasn’t new-to-him in the 1940’s. So any idea what life was like in, say, 1894 when he was 10? 1904 when he was 20 and older than you? 2) Why was Eisenhower’s cabinet referred to as a “kitchen” and 3) Flesh out why he would have been told “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” That’s something we can’t even comprehend in today’s air conditioned world. Cooking over a campfire when the sun is beating down on you on a hot summer’s day is the closest I can personally come to the comparison.

@trailsillustrated You said, “If my kids came home with a stupid assignment like that I’d be pissed.” How many kids do you have and how old are they?

I have 13 year old twins- I don’t know if this is grade school work or middle school but this is exactly how I would tell my kids to do it- I don’t practice anymore but I am a dmd. That’s how I got through at my general courses- and I still think trying to get two pages out of this quote is just busy work.

highschool lol…this is something we should of done in like 5 grade…

and for the record franklin roosevelt was before harry truman, then eisenhower, so the kitchen cabinet thing was from fdr not eisenhower…get it Kitchen Cabinet lol

he also said to include personal experiences, then lastly an anecdote

So include an instance where your nana said it to you, and then the anecdote could be where she sat with you and told you about the depression.

@trailsillustrated What’s a dmd?

@jdogg OK, you got me going on this! I’ve never given this phrase, that I’ve grown up with all of my life, so much thought! Let’s look at it this way. Today’s oven’s are designed with insulation, in order to keep as much as the heat as possible inside of the stove for efficiency reasons. Combine that with AC, and even on a 110 degree day the heat from a stove cooking isn’t all that noticeable.

Compare that to a wood burning stove that you buy today for the express purpose of heating your home. It’s basically a cast iron box, designed for all six surfaces to heat up to radiate heat out into the house, and they work way better than a fireplace and, in many cases, better than central heat. You can get them so hot that the outside glows red! But that’s not a good idea ‘cause things close to them, like women cooking, can burst into flames.

Anyways,Ben Franklin invented the cast iron stove (in what year?) and revolutionized not only heating, but cooking. Prior to that people just used open fires.

Now, to cook bread, for example, your stove needs to be at about 400 to 450 degrees. Imagine if you will (WAIT! Did I just hear Rod Sterling’s voice from the Twighlight Zone?) a hot, 110 degree August day in Missouri in 1894 when Truman was 10 years old. It’s 110, the women have the wood burning, non-insulated cast iron cook stove cranked up to 400 for the bread, cake, biscuits, whatever, along with potatoes, corn and beets boiling and steaming on TOP of the stove, and they’re bustling around the kitchen in long, heavy dresses, working to get 20 things cooked, prepared and ready to go at the same time….it makes me faint just to think of it! I wouldn’t be surprised if someone or ones died from the heat!

“this is something we should of done in like 5 grade…” Should OF?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????/

“and for the record franklin roosevelt was before harry truman, then eisenhower, so the kitchen cabinet thing was from fdr not eisenhower…get it Kitchen Cabinet lol”
And for the record, proper nouns, such as people’s names, are capitalized.

@Val123 a dentist. it sounds to me like he has other classes and just wants to get this done. now I don’t know if he aspires to a literary career or perhaps one in journalism, so yes, if he does, he could get really sweaty about this. but he’s a high school kid and probably has other home work too, or maybe wants to go to bed.

im on my ipod touch where i prefer just to get the point across, not spend half my time worrying about making my sentences grammaricly correct and making my sentences all pretty, and neither is adding a thousand question marks…i have a feeling that we are getting slightly edgy and i prefer we stick to the main discussion not a lecture on my punctuation..

@trailsillustrated correct! ive been working this for 5 hours and its 10:30, im tired and i want to finish this

@jdogg stick in your story about nana cooking and chasing you out of there, then explaining about how she heard it since she was a girl , depression, blah blah, edit , check it, print your’e done.

@trailsillustrated O. Well. I have this tooth see…..(JK! But I won’t forget that bit of info!) Well, he’s been thinking about this for a few hours so he wasn’t ready for bed when he started. I agree, it was a minor assignment, but that’s not the same thing as a BS assignment. Not every assignment can be earth-shatteringly profound, and as for me, I hope he tells his teacher “Thanks from Val123, who is a teacher herself, because she learned some things from your assignment that she didn’t know before.”

@jdogg Shoot. I keep forgetting about the IPOD thing…sorry.To that end I didn’t even notice the word “grammaricly”! ROFL!!!

BUT THAT IS NO EXUCSE FOR SHOULD OF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Um, @trailsillustrated Uh, he never told a story about his nana chasing him out then talking about the Depression. And most people had electricity during the depression (I think), so that doesn’t count towards the point that the cook stove was the crux of it all.

jdogg Don’t talk S%$ as though you’ve experienced it if you haven’t. Writing rule #1. If you didn’t have a Nana who talked to you about the depression, then don’t attempt to write as though you did.

Huh…..what combination of key strokes up there changed my font from Ariel to Typewriter??

@val123 hahaa bout the tooth- look, he’s just trying to get this done . he might have alot of other work. anybody can make up an applicable anecdote, its not a crime. you sound like a great teacher.

well i appreciate the suggestion trailsillustrated but im going to pass ont he whole nana thing, and its not that my nana hasn’t done that cause she has but i think ill take another perspective on it, im writing…“my experiences, this saying has been true. There has been many times when my mom and I have gotten into heated arguments, and when I notice when we aren’t improving the situation, one of us usually leave the room too cool down. This is important because if we just continued to argue, it could have ended with a punishment.” since its true, personal and out of the box

***insert “In my experiences”

well use that then, you get the idea.

A homework question with 89 comments. Really?!

haha yeah isn’t it fun!

i must say, thank you so much for your support everyone, i think i gave almost everyone a great answer lurve :)

done!

@spatizelover Yeah AND it was educational! For me anyway. I know….he can just print this off for 100 pages and…. graduate ahead of his class!

@trailsillustrated REALLY! I do have this tooth…well, 3, actually…oh, nevermind!) OK, I’m a teacher, but I’m also into writing, which I realize might not be applicable here, and in writing that’s a huge rule. If you come from a wealthy, upper upper class family, don’t even try to write a story about what it’s like in the Ghetto, unless you’ve spent a at least several weeks living and breathing it. Granted, it might not apply here, but…don’t BS the teachers or your education! Pulease! For your sake! And there is something to be learned in everything.

@jdogg Test time. What have you learned tonight. Answer quick because it’s time for you to go to bed son! (Um…of course that depends on where you live!??)

@val123 haha yep youre a good teacher- I carried 18 credits freshman and sophomore year so I had to autopilot some- boooo
@jdogg yaaaay!!!

not to be a teacher who gives out annoying assignments! :) night

@jdogg I want to see the finished product, then GET YOUR BUTT TO BED!! —I’m a Mom too, in case you haven’t noticed. The way I figure it, you’re on Western time, 2 hours behind me (in which case it’s only 9) or Central time (in which case it’s 11) or Eastern time (in which case WHY THE H$$% ARE YOU STILL UP!! YOU HAVE SCHOOL IN THE MORNING!!! BRUSH YOUR TEETH AND HIT THE SACK!!)

@jdogg Oh, I can be annoying. For example I want a one-sentence essay on why
“COULD OF IS SO WRONG AND MAKES NO SENSE!!!!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On my desk in the morning please.

@Val123 er I have an idea that he’s in europe or canada….. youre so cute hahaha on your desk in the am ! hahaha

No! I’m serious! Could OF is a major thorn in my butt! And I’m only using this kind of language because I’m assuming the kids are in bed! (Yes, I was hoping Europe so that it would really be yesterday so that he didn’t even have to go to bed till tomorrow because I still have stuff I want to tell him!)

I really like this thread. “Harry Truman would have told you get out (of the kitchen)” made me lol4rl.

I can’t fall asleep :( I live in Illinois so it’s 11:43 and my ipod has autocorrect that isn’t always Cortez so could of may been have accidental :)

And even if it wasnt, it’s still better grammar than “if ya like it then ya shoulda putta ring on it” or would that just be euphonix?

Cortez=correct because of typo

@Val123 – I am confused – I never said Truman originated the “get out of the kitchen” quote, and Truman himself never claimed to have done so. However, Truman was always proud to be a Missourian and a farmer, and liked to project a “homey” image.

@all – Just for the record, the term “kitchen cabinet” pre-dates Eisenhower, Truman and FDR. It was first used to describe the meetings in the White House kitchen between President Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) and his friends to discuss government business. Jackson was president from 1829 to 1837.

There is often tension between members of a kitchen cabinet, who are able to influence policy in an informal way, and those politicians in the “real” cabinet who have direct and official responsibility for government departments but see themselves cut out of the decision-making process. Source

@Darwin Thanks for that info! I LOVE “BS” assignments! You learn so much!

@jdogg Well, it only corrects spelling, I assume, and you spelled “of” correctly so it wouldn’t catch it. When spoken the sentence sounds like “Could of,” but it’s a contraction of “Could” and “have”—“Could’ve.”

Think of it this way. You can say, “I could of gone to the store.” Take the word “Could” out of the sentence, and you have “I of gone to the store,” and of course you wouldn’t say that! You’d say, “I have gone to the store.” See? It’s actually a very common error, and it just floors me that kids can go to school for 12 years and never get it corrected.
And speaking like “Whatcha talkin’ about,” or “coulda” usually just means you’re writing as though you’re conversing. Plus people know they’re being silly. People who write “Could of” don’t seem to realize that it is just flat wrong. I’ve seen it used in formal papers!

its so easy it could be ‘could have’ ‘would have’ etc on and on ad nauseum- I expect @jdogg puts that in his papers, my kids do but you should see how they write on messenger-