It’s Summertime, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, and for many people that means barbecues and outdoor grilling. Especially around July 4th in the United States, people, regardless of their level of patriotism, tend to enjoy an afternoon of grilling and gathering around a picnic table or patio set and eating hot dogs, hamburgers, and whatever other items the chef cooks up.
One of the age-old questions that comes up around this time of year is why hot dogs are sold in packs of ten, and buns are sold in packs of eight. Now, for the Kosher consumer, this may not hold true anymore, as I don’t generally see hot dogs sold in packs of ten. They’re usually seven or eight hot dogs depending on the brand.
However, for many years, for the general populace, this was a good question. Why on earth would you sell fewer buns than you had hot dogs? And this was asked decades ago, when nobody had heard of being gluten-free, so you can’t assume you need less than one bun per frank.
The answer, it may interest you to know, was that hot dogs and sausages were historically sold by the pound. The typical American hot dog was 1.6 ounces, and ten of those equaled one pound. That’s why they came ten in a pack.
OK, you might ask, then why not sell packages of ten buns? “Hot dog buns most often come eight to the pack because the buns are baked in clusters of four in pans designed to hold eight rolls,” the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council writes. (Yes, this is a real organization!) “While baking pans now come in configurations that allow baking 10 and even 12 at a time, the eight-roll pan remains the most popular.”
In other words, both hot dogs and buns are sold in numbers that make sense for themselves, even if it doesn’t work out for the griller, unless of course you buy four packs of hot dogs and five packs of buns. It seems odd to us, but there’s a reason and method to the madness.
Here’s another example. My wife loves organization and neatness. One of the things she bought for our fridge is a Lucite holder for eggs. Instead of leaving your eggs in the fridge in the [GASP!] cardboard or Styrofoam container, you now transfer them into a lovely clear container so you can see how many you have at a glance.
However, what annoys me is that the egg holder is formed to hold fourteen eggs! Last time I checked, there were twelve eggs in a dozen. So now when I have to fill it up, I need to empty a full container, and then get two more eggs. I was stymied by why a company would make it this way. (Also, why my wife would buy it, but that’s not a question I think I’ll ask…)
Well, it used to annoy me, but then I came to a realization. Do you only refill eggs when you’re completely out? Presumably the makers of the holder figured people would realize they were low on eggs and buy another dozen. If it only held twelve, they would end up with the Lucite holder and also the Styrofoam carton in the fridge. Now, with room for fourteen, when you’re down to two eggs you can go grab another dozen and fill up the holder with no need for the store-bought carton. It’s actually quite thoughtful and intuitive.
Which leads me to my point. Often, we see things that make no sense. We wonder who came up with this ridiculous situation, like the mismatched hot dogs and buns. We think anyone with half a brain could realize why it’s a problem and that we ought to rectify it by selling buns in packs of ten or hot dogs in packs of eight (which some manufacturers actually do.) However, we’re not seeing the underlying intelligence or logic because we’re only familiar with the end product, not the manufacturing process.
Then, like my “eggsample” with the plastic holder, we don’t immediately see the purpose of something and think of it as a mistake. Only when we gain insight do we realize how smart it is.
The same holds true for the world. We often see things that don’t make sense. We see people getting in our way or our opportunities limited. We know how it needs to be fixed, but God doesn’t do anything about it!
That’s when we need to go back and remind ourselves that we don’t understand the behind-the-scenes processes necessary for making our lives what God knows they need to be, and maybe we haven’t figured out why these things are actually beneficial and make sense. If we had the insight we’d gasp in astonishment at the perfection of God’s world. Hopefully after our little talk, you’ll start to see things this way. You may even begin to point it out to others. This is a topic about which one can truly get fired up. Enjoy your Summer, and remember – God has has a plan for us!
By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz
Rabbi Gewirtz (Operation Inspiration) welcomes comments and feedback. Write to him at info@JewishSpeechWriter.com to share your thoughts. You never know when you may be the lamp that enlightens someone else.
