So today is Valentines Day, and my turn to take our 10 year old daughter to dance class.

I am standing in the lobby of the dance studio with about 10 other parents; one mother is having difficulty unwrapping a heart-shaped chocolate treat, while the child at her feet is raising a big fuss because she wants it "NOW".

I casually ask the petite woman "would you like to use my knife to help open that"; she replies, "that would be great, I got the bow off, but not the plastic".

I reach under my coat, draw my Leatherman TTi from the belt pouch and with my thumb snap open the main blade like I have done hundreds of times before. Everything went silent in the room as all the other people stopped talking and looked toward the sound, I then wished I had reached for my tiny Gerber STL 2.0 or kept my mouth shut.

I passed the woman my open Leatherman and it dwarfed her small hand; I could anticipate what was coming next so I said "be careful, that blade is really sharp, would you like me to do it for you", (the room was still quiet). Luckly the lady managed to cut the tie on the wrapper and handed me back my multi-tool (blade first), I tucked it away quickly.

The lesson I learned tonight is that many people do not have the same comfort level around edged tools as those who EDC them and that my wife should take the girls to dance class from now on!

Mike