Church key anecdote

[Peter A. McGraw]

--On Friday, February 25, 2005 9:48 AM -0600 Barbara Need
<nee1 at MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU> wrote:

> I would have to say that the unmarked form for me has both ends
> (Cleveland, north of Boston, Phila, Milwaukee, Chicago). My current
> use for it would be as a bottle opener; my more usual use for it as a
> child in Cleveland would have been  as a can opener (I don't remember
> drinking canned juice in Andover, MA). But the visual I have when I
> ask for a church key has both ends.
>

Me, too.

In my original post I didn't mention what followed the blank looks I got.
When I explained that what I wanted was a beer bottle opener, I was handed
one of those corkscrews with little arms and a loop-shaped handle that can
also be used to open a bottle of beer.  I stared at it in confusion for a
moment, because I was still expecting a church key.  Contrary to what
appears to be popular belief, screw-off tops are far from universal.  For
some reason, at least the microbrews I drink come in bottles with tops that
still need to be pried off.  So while I rarely have a use for the pointed
end, I still use the rounded end to open beer bottles, and the church key
is still an everyday object in our house. I suspect lots of other people
around here use them, too, but apparently they don't call them church keys.

Peter Mc.

*****************************************************************
Peter A. McGraw       Linfield College        McMinnville, Oregon
******************* pmcgraw at linfield.edu ************************