"jmcquown" > wrote in message
...
> I certainly was. I also started purchasing small kitchen items when I was
> about 18. I knew I wouldn't live at home forever. Steak knives were not
> high on my priority list. A collander, a whisk, some wooden spoons...

I started at 13. Some things were given to me. Used to babysit for a woman
who paid me with unwanted wedding gifts. When she ran out of stuff I might
want and was forcing me to choose from stuff I did not want, and had no
money to pay me, I quit.

One of my friends had a hope chest. I wanted one but wasn't given one so I
started my own in a cardboard box that fit under my bed. Eventually
expanded to several boxes, not all of which would fit under the bed.

I had no furniture when I moved out aside from bedroom stuff and some big
floor pillows. But I did have towels and other linens and enough stuff for
the kitchen to where I could cook and bake mostly anything. My mom started
me out with the spices. Those cost a lot!
>
>> They'll probably use the
>> steak knives for opening a stubborn sack of Cheerios, slicing the
>> wrapper on a new cd, scraping tar off the Welcome mat. Just no
>> telling. Polly
>>
> If that's the intended usage, why not just give them a couple of pair of
> good kitchen shears? The kind designed for cutting paper and plastic. I'd
> recommend and exacto-knife for tar on a welcome mat. LOL

Ooh yes! I finally bought myself a second pair. I use mine a lot.