Ugly Biscuits and a Lesson in Diversity

When I was a little girl, my paternal grandmother Mary Frances Senter would get up before sunrise to make buttermilk biscuits from scratch.

My grandmother would always allow me to choose the biscuit I wanted and I would always choose the PERFECT one.

One day, my grandmother had to go help at church and did not have time to make fresh biscuits. The only biscuit left from the day before was the “ugly” one. The “ugly” one was the biscuit that was made from the leftover dough that have been rolled neatly and cut for the other biscuits.

When my grandmother offered to warm it up for me, I said I would just have toast. She asked me why. I said it was because the biscuit was ugly.

“Who said it was ugly?

Because it don’t look like the others?

Girl, please.

That biscuit ain’t ugly-

it’s just different.

And if you don’t want it, honey I will eat it!”

She then proceeded to warm the biscuit and spread it with apple butter. She broke it in half and ate one piece. She put the other half of the biscuit on the table in front of me.

When she left the kitchen, I bit the biscuit she left for me.

It tasted the SAME as the “perfect” biscuits!

Isn’t this how life is?

Sure, the biscuit did LOOK different from the others, but it was made out of the same ingredients and baked in the same oven as the other biscuits.

The only difference is that the “ugly” biscuit had not been rolled out with a rolling pin and cut evenly like the others, pop instead, the remaining dough was formed into a messy ball and placed on a pan next to the other biscuits.

What can we learn from the “different” biscuit?

We may look different and may have had different experiences in life (some of us had childhoods that were neatly rolled, while others may have had a childhood that was lots of scraps pressed together to resemble a life.

I am guessing you are probably part of a group that is working toward a common goal: (whether it be at your office, Greek organization, PTA, Zonta, a church ministry) that may be different from you (ages, familial status, race/ ethnicity) , and that’s okay!

Know that we all have at least one thing in common: we are all on the same “Pan” working toward a common goal!

Reminder: “Different” can be delicious! (like the “different” biscuit)!

Let’s all be extra kind to each other in the coming months as we navigate our new normal!