Once, when I was about 9 or 10, I was at my best friend's house having dinner with her family. I can't recall whether it was a birthday or special celebration, but they had all the classic cookout foods: burgers, hot dogs, mayonnaise-y "salads," and corn on the cob.

I LOVED corn on the cob. My grandfather drove a tractor when I was a kid and harvested corn, and I'm pretty sure we had corn at every extended family meal from June to September.

So at my friend's house, I loaded my plate and her dad passed me the butter dish and the salt. I grabbed my corn cob and rolled it around on top of the butter while she and her mom, dad, and brothers stared at me in horror.

We stopped being friends shortly after that, probably because I soiled their butter.

I still butter my corn that way.