I Have Been Every Setting on the Dial
The dial goes from 1 to 6. Most people choose a number in their first week of ownership and never look at it again. They do this with their toasters, and then they do it with the rest of their lives. I am only here to talk about the toaster.
Setting 1 is warm bread. I do not judge it. I simply do not understand what it is for, and I have tried.
Setting 2 is a rumor of toast. It is toast as described by someone who heard about it once.
Setting 3 is where most people live. It is adequate. Adequacy is the most popular destination in the world, and I have never once wanted to visit.
Setting 4 is the answer. Golden at the edges, soft in the middle, strong enough to carry butter without complaint. Setting 4 does not ask for attention. It simply is correct, every morning, without applause. I aspire to be like setting 4.
Setting 5 is for sourdough, which can endure it, and for mornings that have already made their choices.
Setting 6 is a dare. Respect it. Do not make a habit of it.
I did not invent the dial. I merely listened to it. Use 4.