[agzg]

LOL - Probably for me it's just something I notice because Cutco is so prevalent in my hometown area and people are always comparing their knife sets ("Did you get the new butcher knives they came out with last year? It's so nice!!!"). People definitely get "knife envy" - it's like "Keeping up with the Joneses, Kitchen utensil edition."

Live-in's dad got a knife set from his family for Christmas and my dad was talking to him (it was a Henckel set) about it for like an hour. Live-in's dad was surprised that people care that much about knives, too, but he was glad to know that my dad knew that he (live-in's dad) got a really nice set and could answer questions about customer service that he might have (J.A. Henckel's customer service is really great too, and their knives come with similar guarantees and sharpening policies to Cutco).

ETA: I don't judge people for not using Cutco or other (really really nice) knife brands, btw. I just notice when they do. FWIW my kitchen knife set is not Cutco, it's Le Decoupeur and I don't know anything about the company. They're also about 50 years old (they were my grandmother's kitchen knives and I got them as a hand-me-down when I moved into my first apartment by myself). I'm guessing they're good quality because I've had them for 4 years and haven't had to sharpen them and they were very well used at my Grandmother's house for many many years. My Cutco knives are all steak knives.