Microwave?

Zapping?
I don’t know how to use a microwave oven. True confession. I can use methocel, but I can’t zap.
We have one in Italy, only I never even knew it was there until I came into the kitchen one morning and found two of the ragazzi (young people) that were staying with us, and they had located a microwave buried on top of the fridge and were happily heating up leftovers after a wild night on the town.
It never really made sense to me. Why take up all that counter real estate to reheat coffee or make popcorn? Any articles that I’ve read seem to be looking for a reason to use the appliance that was sitting there gathering dust.
Mark Bittman’s article in the NY Times was probably the first time that I read anything that made me say, “hmmm….maybe I should play around with this…”. Then Harold McGee follows up with yet another article, although McGee is far more restrained in his enthusiasm for the microwave.
OK. So, I’ll think about using a microwave. But, where would I put it???