Food Nazis Jess, calm kiwi, yosemite and even sven ... front and center

The BBQ Pit
41

We don’t mind picky eaters. Just as long as they do not go to Ruth Chris Steakhouse, a seafood buffet, a sushi bar, etc. and complain they have nothing on the menu they can eat, because they are a vegetarian, allergic to seafood, hate rice. I have had friends who knew where we were going beforehand but insisted on going then whined all night about the food.

We are sympathetic: the cheese log at christmas had no nuts on it, the roasted pumpkin and the spaghetti squash with marinara sauce was featured at thanksgiving, half of the Japanese food for new years was *monk * food.

Yes. we know you are tired of salad, but do not force us to eat bocaburgers or *dine * at the hare krishna temple, local health food store or worse of all Denny’s.
With much love…It’s Valentine’s after all :smiley:

42

Just the other day, I was talking to my friend who “claims” to have green-blue colorblindness. “I can’t tell the difference between green and blue,” he says. Yeah, right! Even kids in fucking kindergarten can tell the difference between green and blue! What an immature asshole. Anyone who can’t preceive the world exactly the way I do is just being a dick who needs to get the hell over his emotional problems and act like an adult.

43

How unbelievably ARROGANT. Why on earth would you give even the fleetingest flying fuck what I put in my mouth??

elmwood - I take back what I said about this not being worthy of a Pit thread. Diogenes’s comment above is worth a Pit thread all to itself.

44

That is pure crap, Dio.

Made up bullshit to support your particular fetish. I have lots of friends from Asia, and Africa, including the poorest parts, and they have about the same level of food fetish rejections as anybody else.

Yes, starving people will often eat things that non-starving people would gag at the sight of. But that is not related in any way to the point of the OP. Me, I eat anything lying still, or moving slow, but I don’t have to turn it into some moral supremacy thing.

Eat what you want. But be polite on either end of the “Want some pickled duck web?” scenario.

Tris

“I believe in general in a dualism between facts and the ideas of those facts in human heads.” ~ George Santayana ~

45

Why don’t you tell me about something you don’t like (not necessarily food) so I can call you a fucking douchebag for not liking it?

46

Oddly enough, this is the second time I’ve made this statement in a post today:

Thank you, gobear. That needed to be said.

47

Hot damn, my very first Pitting!

However, I don’t think you read my whole post. I was quoting George Carlin (“George Carlin says “picky eater” is a euphemism for 'big pain in the ass.”) and went on to say that “you can have whatever esoteric food issues you please so long as you’re not a pain in the ass about it.” I’ve known a lot of picky eaters (note the lack of capitalization), including my brother whom I mentioned in my post. I have no problem at all with people who are polite about what they eat or won’t eat. I mentioned that my brother just swallows it whole if he’s eating stuff he doesn’t like at someone else’s house. I didn’t mention (and probably should have) that it’s also possible for people who can’t swallow nasty bites like a pill to just serve themself whatever they can eat and leave the rest alone. I don’t really care what you eat or don’t eat – it’s none of my business.

The rudeness (pain-in-the-ass factor) comes in when the Picky Eater (note the capitalization) ruins everybody elses meal by never allowing anybody else to choose the restaurant, or by loud whining about how nasty things are. “Salmon on the grill? Eww! How can you eat that? I can’t even stand next to a grill with fish on it. Maybe I’ll come by afterwards, for dessert. Unless you’re serving something weird. I hated that peanut butter pie thing you served last time I was there.” This is especially true when eating at someone else’s home: “What’s this? Virginia ham? It doesn’t look right. Is this mac & cheese made with Velveeta? Sharp cheddar? Eww! I only like Velveeta. Broccoli! Eww! Broccoli makes me gag. Strawberries! Eww! I hate strawberries, I’ll just have the cake. What? Biscuits instead of Sara Lee poundcake? I only like strawberry shortcake with Sara Lee poundcake and without the strawberries.” That is a Picky Eater and he or she is a pain in the ass. I stand by my post – especially since it’s the one that finally got me Pitted.

48

Let me toss down for the ‘texture’ camp.

I, myself, am one of those for certain fruits and vegetables. Something about the texture sets me off. Lady Chance has seen me puke in the street from encountering an unexpected onion in a sandwich.

And I’m told I’ve always been this way…even before I have memories.

But I make certain there’s no way I put people out. If I’m absolutely in a situation with something I can’t eat I just go hungry and don’t complain. It’s not like I’m in danger of starvation or anything.

49

I haven’t had any food by mouth in four and a half months. Due to a cranky pancreas, I’ve been living off predigested goo pumped into my intestine through a tube punched through the side of my gut.

Hell is a pretty good description.

50

Kalhoun:

… fish that crawl?

51

I assume she’s refering to crab and lobster.

52

Mudskippers maybe?

53

I absolutely do not defend those who pester other adults about what they should (or should not) eat. IMHO if you politely decline to eat certain foods, and leave it at that, you should be left alone. There is no reason for you to have to justify your dietary choices to anyone else, and anyone who demands that you do so is out of line, as is any rude person who tries to pressure you into eating something that you don’t want.

I’m just pointing out that I believe that you’re including Jess in the pitting unjustly because (s)he wasn’t condemning pickiness, but rather rude pickiness. My question to you was rhetorical; I can assure you that I assumed that you weren’t rude, an thus would not fall into Jess’s definition of a picky eater.

54

Here’s an anecdote (which I know the accuracy of, as it happened to me) in which it’s the Foodies who are a pain in the ass, and not the picky person (me).

supervenusfreak and I went to DC a few weeks ago to attend Mid-Atlantic Leather. We stayed down there with a friend who lives in Falls Church. The night we arrived, the friend has Vietnamese delivered.

Now, I AM a picky eater. I’ll admit it readily. But I’m also a polite person and didn’t make a peep when the Vietnamese was ordered, as I’d determined that I would TRY some before deciding whether I liked it or not. This is my general rule, honestly. I won’t always (or even often) adopt a type of food just because I’ve tried it (because I AM picky), but I’ll always TRY something new (unless it has a visible face, or worse, is a visible larva of some kind).

The unfortunate thing this particular evening was the cilantro with which the pha was apparently doused. I cannot eat cilantro. This is not a picky thing, this is a taste thing. Cilantro tastes like Ivory soap to me. And so did the whole damn bowl of pha. Unfortunately, once the taste was in my mouth, it stayed there and I couldn’t eat ANYTHING in front of me.

I did not complain and bleat and cry to the host, our friend. I did explain the problem, only so that I wouldn’t seem rude for simply not eating any of this food he’d bought. So far, so good, right?

Except that I then never heard the end of it the entire weekend from both supervenusfreak and our friend. We were in town, and had a choice between walking to a Chinese restaurant that was close to the hotel or walking to the metro station and going to a steakhouse near our friend’s condo. I said not a word. I would have gone to either one, because I can usually find something I can eat at a Chinese buffet with no problem. It was the OTHER two who decided we needed to go back to Arlington because “Jim won’t eat Chinese”! This was a repeated scenario several times that weekend. And it annoyed the FUCK out of me.

I did not create drama. I did not prevent anyone from enjoying the food they wanted to enjoy. I did not say, “EWWW! I HATE THAT!” But I was still considered the annoying pain in the ass because I’d been picky (and really, I don’t consider not wanting to eat SOAP to be picky) ONCE that weekend.

55

The anti-picky eater vitrol comes from the fact that many picky eaters become nuisances in group eating situations. Eating out can only be confined to the kind of places that send weekly coupons in Pennysaver. Forget ordering an item that needs to be shared, like a pizza, if it comes with something crazy like onions. Then there’s the childish, embarassing sneering towards dishes that don’t have brand names attatched to them. I just recently attended a party where among other home cooked buffet items there was a Pizza Hut pizza. I learned later that the host was forced to order that because the party’s picky eater felt uncomfortable eating stuff like chicken wings and raw vegetables with dressing,. The host was naturally infuriated. But I commend the girl on getting a supreme pizza. Most picky eaters I’ve encountered couldn’t handle something that challenging.

56

jayjay, I’m not even a picky eater, but I can’t eat anything with even the slightest bit of cilantro in it. Well, I can, but I’d prefer to go hungry which, if you know me, is saying a lot.

57

Haven’t you ragged on social conservatives for not being tolerant of homosexuals? How does this not make you a hypocrite? No one is being affected by picky eaters other than themselves, so why so much hatred for them?

When I was a child, I was quite sick for a while. Ended up being a tapeworm in my stomach, but not knowing any better I blamed it on certain foods. To this day I haven’t added much more to my diet that wasn’t included when I was 5. It’s pretty shitty walking by Ruth’s Chris and enjoying the scent, but simply not being able to eat a steak without gagging. How this can piss anyone off other than myself is beyond me.

58

Cilantro DOES taste like soap. Bleeah. The first time I had it was in guacamole, which I love. I feared guacamole for some time afer that, because I didn’t know the bad taste was an added ingredient - I thought something was wrong with the avocados.

jayjay you get my sympathy, and my empathy too. I’m willing to try anything once, but if I don’t like it, other people will often make a big deal out of it, where I would have been just as happy to politely push it to the side and say nothing. Also, I don’t drink booze - I just don’t care for the taste. I have had people ask me point-blank if I’m an alcoholic (as if it would be any of their business), suggest to me that I haven’t yet found the “right” drink (hello, after 15 years tending bar, there’s very little out there I can think of that I haven’t at least tasted) or get belligerent with me about my feelings about THEIR drinking (no, I really could not care less if you drink, unless you puke on me.)

59

Same here. And I like banana-flavored things. I luuuurrrrrve banana bread. I think bananas taste fine, and and smell fine. I’m not allergic to them. I can even eat banana chips without a problem (except to my teeth; the little bastards are like poker chips). But if I try to chew a piece of fresh banana, I will gag.

60

JayJay,

I have a similar situation. Now, my friends and Family know I can’t tolerate sea-food. But, run into someone that doesn’t understand this and they practically stuff it down your throat because ‘this’ particular whatever is so good. You must never have had a good one… etc. etc.

Trust me, I’ve tried it many many times. And If someone I know that knows seafood suggests I try something particullarly good, I’ll give it a go. No luck so far.