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Eating healthy food
I often eat lunch in a downtown office food court. I always try to eat as healthily as possible, which to me means fresh vegetables, light meals, no fried food, and variety, which equals a wide array of ethnic foods. I've noticed recently that a male eating salad strikes some people as unnatural. I get "that look" from passersby. Mind you, most people could care less, but every once in a while I notice a reaction. It's as if I were hunkering down to eat a doily: it's just not perceived as manly, I guess. Ethnic food is another one of those things that sometimes catches people off guard. It is as if the food I am eating is actually affecting the well-being of innocent passersby. Growing up in Kansas, my family basically self-identified this way: We Are People Who Do Not Pay Attention To The Healthiness Of Food. Anyone who is not in the "WAPWDNPATTHOF" clan is regarded with suspicion, and sometimes these outsiders become the brunt of jokes. So I guess I've seen the other side, but it still catches me off guard now. Eating and sex are both activities that some folks feel must be monitored and controlled. Sex is the activity that's really obvious: look no further than gay rights to see that people who have no real stake in the outcome expend great effort in other people's private business. Food, on the other hand, is not as visible a target, but I'm thinking there is a similar urge for control by some people. Is this why reality shows and the "extreme" sports often focus on people eating bugs and weevils? Is this culinary porn? It's always hard, when I'm at a restaurant, to decide whether I want to order something that is totally unfamiliar, or whether I want to order the thing I had last time that was OH SO GOOD. This decision pits my values against each other : (1) New things are worth trying (corrolary: Really new things are really worth trying), and (2) Good things are worth eating. There is a value #3, as well: Health trumps flavor. When I sit down to eat, with these three driving values, and someone else gives you that furrowed brow bug-eye stare, I'm suddenly and unexpectedly reminded that some people have values that must go like this: (1) Flavor rules (2) Standard food is all there is (3) Only my vigilance can preserve the integrity of food worldwide. I really do not want to offend anyone as I go through my life. I know that's not a popular position these days -- to care what others think -- but it is true. Should my values be compromised to prevent offending these vigilant food-defenders out there? What if I discovered that eating rancid garbage from a dumpster was the most divine, exquisite experience I could ever have? What if (this is a provocation, folks) I found that I most liked to eat animal droppings? I'm noticing my own internal repulsion at the thought of ANYONE doing either of these things. So, maybe we are all wired to react to others' diets: some people wired more specifically (just at the dung and maggot eaters), some more generally (reacting to males eating salads).
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