Pronouns

My mom has always been crafty.  When I was younger she made most of my clothes and she used to cross stitch and crochet more frequently than she has in the last decade.  Last year when she had to have her gallbladder removed she had a sizable amount of medical leave during which she was to recover.  Which she took to mean relaxing at home watching more Martha Stewart than any one person should consume on a regular basis.  The result of which was the reigniting of her crafty bug! 

The bug taking the shape of a whole new craft!  For the better part of the last two years my mom has been making paper flowers.  They've progressed from tissue paper strips on fuzzy craft sticks to beautiful cut, punched, folded flowers on floral picks and wooden skewers...that everyone she works with wants to receive and give.  In the last few months there have even been people ask her to make paper flower arrangements with specific themes for mother's day.

This is how I came to be googling "sock monkey paper."  The search for which lead me to a design company on Etsy.com that sells digital paper packs.  For a few bucks you "buy" the digital paper which the company sends you and then you can print as much or as little as needed.  I thought it was a really neat concept after spending so much time hunting in all the local (aka everything within 50+ MILES) craft/scrapbooking stores for specific colors, patterns, and images.

As my mom and I were discussing the product I found myself referring to the company with feminine pronouns.  My t.u.i. let me assume that since we were discussing something "crafty" it MUST be a woman designing and selling the products.  The name of the company is gender neutral.  And I had no idea if it's one person or many, female(s) or male(s).  (After going back and looking at the profile on Etsy.com it is a woman...but is it so crazy to be mindful and think this could be a man?)

Have you ever caught yourself making seeming inconsequential assumptions like this?  Whether they seem insignificant or significant, I hope you read this and start seeing some of your own t.u.i. moments!  And if you feel comfortable doing so, please share your t.u.i. moments in the comments below!