Conversation with Clerk at Grocery Store

I guess this wasn't really a conversation as much as it was just a short exchange. Even so, it's generated a lot of thoughts on my part.

I was standing in the meat section of Albertson's today when I saw some beef marrow bones, which have always intrigued me. There was a meat cutter a few feet away, putting new product on the shelves. I said, "Hi, I see you have marrow for sale. Have you ever had roast marrow before?"

He says, "Oh, those are just to give to dogs. That's all they're for." He didn't even look at me while he was saying it. I bit my tongue, literally, and went to shop for other items.

And here is where I start to have my meltdown. If you don't know what I'm asking, just say so. I highly respect this phrase: "I don't know." It's efficient. It's accurate. And most of all, it's honest. Yeah, big fan.

Myself, if someone asks me a question and I don't know the answer, I start asking questions. I might not know the answer, but I might know someone that does. Or, even better - for me - I might learn something.

We are living in exciting culinary times in the United States. Many of us that are cooks and foodies are rediscovering dishes that used to be considered delicacies and somehow fell out of favor to the point of extinction, like eating bone marrow. Marrow bones are roasted in the oven till browned and then sprinkled with coarse salt. In older days it was served with toast. You used your marrow fork (yes, there were even special forks for eating marrow), insert it into the bone, twist, and pull out the softened, gelatinous marrow and spread it like jelly on the toast points.

BTW, they are also called "soup bones". Guess why?

All I wanted to know was if this meatman had ever had marrow and did he enjoy it.

Do I expect too much from people? You might be saying, "Well, he's only a meat cutter. Why should he know anything about marrow?" Because he's expected to know the product he's selling.
C'mon! Have some fuckin' interest in your profession!