I was on track to be a liberal arts major from about the time I was in kindergarten.

But in seventh grade I somehow found myself taking shop class. It was called Industrial Arts then.

We used power tools and made various projects, mostly out of wood. I never actually saw anyone lose a finger to one of the table saws or whatever. But there were always rumors about a kid that had happened to in the previous year. You know how that goes.

Around about that time, I had a girlfriend named Cindy Kenworthy. I think she was the first girl (nonrelative) I kissed.

I gave Cindy one of my shop class projects as a present. It was a salt and pepper shaker made out of multiple layers of colorful acrylic. It had to be cut, sanded and glued together. Then I bored holes in it to create the salt and pepper wells.

Cindy and I didn't last long as a romantic couple. But we stayed friends.

Anyway, the next year, in eighth grade, Cindy and I were in some social studies class together. One assignment was to demonstrate how to do something in front of the whole class. I stripped down to a pair of gym shorts and then showed how one puts on hockey equipment. You had to wear a garter belt to hold up the socks back then. And several of the kids wanted to try on my elbow pads.

Cindy demonstrated how to make some kind of salad. Can't remember exactly what kind.

What I do remember is she used my shop class salt and pepper shaker as she seasoned the salad.

I don't recall much from that Industrial Arts training. But I remember that seeing Cindy use that salt and pepper shaker gave me a good feeling. It was a feeling I seldom got from the liberal arts.

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