Having a picky appetite sucks. It's like having allergic reactions to food, but you don't get a legitimate excuse to be picky. No one’s going to shame you for not eating food that you’re allergic to. But if you’re just a picky eater, people will judge you like there is no tomorrow.
I get judged like that very often. It’s probably because I’m one of the most picky eaters I’ve seen in my life. Cucumbers? Absolutely not. Tomatoes? Only in salsa or in cooked forms, absolutely no slices. Seafood? Raw, but not cooked (usually, depends on the seafood). Water? Absolutely no tap water; BRITA doesn’t help either.
Most people don’t understand why I have such a picky taste. They say stuff like “what do you mean cucumbers smell weird?” or “there’s nothing wrong with BRITA water”. Some of them adamantly try to correct me, insisting that there’s something wrong with the way I eat food.
Since I’m constantly judged and questioned by people that don’t understand my tastes, I try my best not to judge anyone with an odd taste. Cilantro doesn’t taste like soap to me, but I don’t judge people that refuse to eat it. Mint chocolate and pineapple pizza are pretty good in my opinion, but I won’t judge people that hate them. People have different preferences, and I’ve learned that getting judged on such preferences is super annoying.
It’s kinda weird to put it this way, but I think my picky appetite and the way I deal with it is one of the biggest factors forming who I am today. I’ve learned to respect other perspectives, even if they are super wrong in my own eyes. I don’t understand how horoscopes are supposed to shape my (and millions of other Taurus’s) personality, but I’m not gonna walk up to people and tell them they’re dumb for believing in it.
I think most of our initial reaction to hearing something that goes against our own views is “why?” Most of the time, it’s followed by “I don’t understand.” The catch? You don’t need to understand. “I don’t get why” is not a valid excuse to disapprove of someone’s preferences. You may think you’re a smart, logical person that filters out irrelevant and wrong perspectives, but what you’re really doing is making a real-life degenerate Twitter feed by muting everyone that doesn’t share the same views as you. Disagree with someone all you want, but keep in mind that the you’re-wrong-I’m-right approach to things can turn pretty toxic.
What I’m trying to say after all these words is: Let me avoid cucumbers and drink bottled water. I don’t care about what you think.
What I’m really trying to say? There are close to 8 billion people in the world, each with their own preferences. People are different, and you don’t really need to understand why we’re different to be friends with each other. So do it!
YiLFS,
Evans *Sunrise* Choi
Beta Lambda, Spring 2021
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