Ham Glue

Jan 8, 2017 by tlmiller

We all have our own jargon or catch phrases that have special meaning when used with our loved ones, friends, and family; words and phrases that come from our interactions with each other and are own language specific to who we’re with.   One of my own personal favorites has to do with E-6000 glue and my friend, Terri.

Awhile ago I was looking for a glue that could handle joining coins to magnets.  I always end up with extra coins when I travel outside of the U.S. and rather than exchanging them back for U.S. currency, I decided that it would be a practical souvenir of my travels to create magnets I could use on my refrigerator.

I told Terri of my plans and one Saturday we headed off to Jo Ann’s Fabric specifically to find glue for my latest project.  This particular Jo Ann’s had the display of glue way in the back corner of the store, so we wound our way through fabric and numerous distractions, focused solely on finding glue.

Once we found the display, we began selecting glues at random and reading off the intended uses on each package.

We weren’t having any luck until Terri picked up a package of E-6000.

“Metal, glass, pottery, ceramics, ham, rocks, mag…”

“What?  Ham?  Seriously?” I asked, startled.  “On what planet would we ever need to glue ham?”

“…nets.  Ham?” Terri stopped reading.

“You said ham,” I told her.

“Ham?”

“Yes.”

“I did?”

I nodded and we both looked at each other, adjusted our glasses and peered at the label, trying to figure out who would even think of making a glue intended for ham.

We read the label.

Metal.

Glass.

Pottery.

Ceramics.  And burst out laughing.

“Horn,” Terri said.  “It says horn.”

We couldn’t stop laughing.  We stood in that far away corner of Jo Ann’s for a long time laughing about gluing ham, and I bought the glue, of course.  How could I not?  Now, whenever Terri and I are discussing a project that requires glue, the question is always “do we use ham glue, or something else?” More often than not, the answer is going to be ham glue.

Now, just for clarification, you should know that I’ve never actually felt the need to glue ham, but I’ll tell you it does make me smile to know that if I’m ever on a planet where there is such a need, I’ll have just the right glue.

TM

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