# Jeez, when are you old enough to say "no, I really DON'T want to try that food?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139 "2013-06-28T16:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/41 "2013-06-29T00:19:33Z")
My sister and niece visited me this week and we went out to eat. Niece refused to try the duck, and my sister gently asked why. The explanation that my niece gave was kind of crazy. She basically admitted to having never had duck before, but that it seemed totally gross to her. To her credit, I think she heard how lame she sounded and actually tried some. Still didn’t like it, but we all praised her for being brave. That said, she’s a teenager and we were trying to encourage her to be more adventurous. Nagging a grown person to eat when they don’t want to is not only rude, but it’s counter-productive. Who has ever fallen in love with someone that they’ve been pressured to eat? I’d love for someone to post a story about how they were pressured into eating something and they ended up vomiting all over the table. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/42 "2013-06-29T00:21:54Z")
I eat all kinds of stuff, just no factory farmed animal products. That means I’m pretty much vegan when I’m not at home, save for a few other like minded friends’ houses and a few restaurants. Somehow, I’ve gotten very lucky and while I have explained my stance at extended family gatherings, it’s never been under the pressure of “you have to try this,” or people trying to sneak food onto my plate or something. I always find something to eat, I bring a dish to pass that of course I can eat, and the subject doesn’t really come up except in conversations started out of curiosity. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that in the rest of my non-family life, the majority of my friends and co-workers are vegetarian and vegan or eat like me. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/43 "2013-06-29T00:22:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You’re fucking stupid. All game meat has one thing in common–it is something that runs away from you while you try to hunt it. And that does produce a certain flavor that is present in EVERY SINGLE FORM of game meat. I don’t even dislike it. But if you can’t tell that there’s a common flavor in all of it, you don’t even have the right to tell a child to try it, since apparently you can’t taste anything. > [@BigT](#): > > Okay, you’re even stupider than I thought! This whole fucking thread is about how you have to be fucking douchebag of epic proportions to tell someone what they should or shouldn’t like. > > She’s speaking for everyone in the thread. You are exactly the type of person who the OP is upset about. Go fuck a cactus, dickhole. Reported. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/44 "2013-06-29T00:23:12Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > It’s ridiculous to write off “game meat” because it encompasses everything from dove to elk. You cannot like duck and you cannot like venison and you cannot like pheasant, but those animals are so different in every culinary and biological way, it’s absurd to lump them together under a category as wide as “not domesticated.” You know, when my mother in law declared she did not like meat I didn’t nitpick her for using bacon. If someone tells me “I don’t like game meat” I hear that as “if something is from a wild animal the odds are overwhelming I won’t like it”. If they are over at my house after that I’ll say something like “the venison stew is done - by the way, I also have this other thing over here, which everyone else is welcome to try, too.” and it will be something without any wild critters in it. Seriously, I try to be respectful of the food choices of other adults. I don’t care if it’s for medical, religious, or simple dislike reasons. I get no joy from coercing others. Adults should be able to refuse game meat, shellfish, any type of wine, mushrooms, broccoli, or whatever. On the flip side they shouldn’t make faces at others enjoying what they don’t like, but really, a little more respect all around would be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/45 "2013-06-29T00:25:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Seeing as such actions will result in you not having any friends, I’m not surprised. I’ve got plenty of friends. What I don’t have is an abundance of people that piss me off all the time being rude. The system works, if you don’t want to spend your life rolling your eyes and muttering “oh, boy” when a purported “friend” comes on the scene. Some people want to live like that - some people like Justin Beiber; I’m not in either group. Judith Martin and I agree on huge point about etiquette - its purpose is not “how to stay friends with people that treat you rudely.” Most etiquette questions boil down to “This person treats me like crap - how do I keep them as a friend?” The answer is “You don’t.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/46 "2013-06-29T00:27:24Z")
I’m somewhat of a super-taster. I can’t eat bitter vegetables like cress, and beets make me gag. My wife is forever trying to get me to eat beets, even though I tell her “no, not now, not ever, never.” I think I’ve finally gotten through to her not to put jagged-leaf greens on my salads, and to go easy on the spinach, though. But it’s taken 20 years. I also do better with mixed fruit, so a bowlful of just raspberries is over-tart to me. So what did I get this morning? Right. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/47 "2013-06-29T00:27:36Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’d love for someone to post a story about how they were pressured into eating something and they ended up vomiting all over the table. When I was in first grade, and eating lunch in the school cafeteria, I refused to eat the wax beans that were on my tray. One of the teachers stood over me and insisted I eat at least three bites before deciding I didn’t like them. I took a forkful and shoved them in my mouth and then blew chunks all over the table. They didn’t make me eat anything I didn’t like ever again. In my defense, I was only six years old. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/48 "2013-06-29T00:28:04Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Kale just has a seriously objectionable texture - it goes from tyvek to slime in a milisecond. Oddly enough, while I have some liking for kale, I have to admit that’s a _very_ good description of one of its traits… ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/49 "2013-06-29T00:31:10Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > His reaction is clearly in his head. He states it locks up his throat. This is a psychological aversion, and I am pointing out how ludicrously wide of an aversion “game meat” is. To me, that is just as ridiculous as stating, "I can only breathe indoor air.’ > > But then, I guess you’re the expert on passive-aggressive and dismissive emoticons as a mode of expressing yourself. You know what’s passive-aggressive and dismissive as hell? Telling a fucking adult you know better than they do about what they like to eat. I don’t give a shit if his reaction is in his head. I don’t give a shit if he believes game meat is full of gremlin eggs and if you eat it you’ll puke up fuckin’ mogwais. Grown ups get to decide what they do and do not want to eat, and polite people shut the fuck up about it. We all know what _you_ are. Also, _ **BigT** _ just totally handed you your ass. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/50 "2013-06-29T00:33:19Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Reported. Ooooo we’re all so scared. If you’re going to report a post, just report it. You don’t have to tell us you reported it. It makes you look like a 4th grader. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/51 "2013-06-29T00:34:06Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’d love for someone to post a story about how they were pressured into eating something and they ended up vomiting all over the table. Well… that _did_ happen to me once, but it was due to my food allergy. The offender just didn’t comprehend that ketchup, no matter how small the quantity, was also forbidden under the “tomatoes can kill Broomstick” rule. So I’m not sure it applies, exactly. I mean, the stew was decreed as safe and normally I like stew, so there wasn’t any refusal. Quite an exciting night. The hostess never did forgive me for what I did to her guest “powder room” but I honestly couldn’t help it. Then there was the ambulance ride, the ER in Rockford, Illinois… Not the best end to an evening. For many years after, though, no one in that social circle EVER insisted I try something after the first refusal… ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/52 "2013-06-29T00:45:30Z")
Wow. I eat lots of stuff that many people won’t touch, oysters on the half shell? Decimated 3 dozen at one sitting before i got embarrased. I have tried quail, pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, something called hunter’s stew that was all kinds of game, and deer. No like. The incident that got me thinking was being prevailed upon to try elk. And I just figured, I had to choke down the other, and at my age, I just ain’t gonna do it again. And drastic\_quench, sorry, miss elizabeth is right. You’re just doing the same thing–saying “well, you haven’t tried it ALL, so you can’t say that.” I can and will say it. I’m a grown-up. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/53 "2013-06-29T00:48:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > It took Bush the Elder becoming President before people would listen to him about not liking Brussels sprouts. > [@twickster](#): > > Broccoli. Didja all know that Brussels sprouts = broccoli? Also = kale, cauliflower, et many al. I learned it right here on The Straight Dope Message Board! > [@Educate me on one of the finer points of botany, please (Brussels sprouts)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/educate-me-on-one-of-the-finer-points-of-botany-please-brussels-sprouts/658289/4): > > Same species, actually. > > The cabbage _Brassica oleracea_ has a very large number of distinct cultivars. Cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, collard greens, cauliflower, and kohlrabi all belong to the same botanical species. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/54 "2013-06-29T01:02:09Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’d love for someone to post a story about how they were pressured into eating something and they ended up vomiting all over the table. Adding my story. This goes back to nursery school days, though I still remember it and still have an aversion to jam. Someone insisted, against my objections, that I ‘just try’ the jam sandwich. I ate it, thought, in all honesty that it wasn’t too bad and promptly hurled it all back up again. I still don’t eat jam. Similar incident as an adult when a friend and her Mom assured me that what they were offering was guaranteed to settle my stomach. At their insistence, I tried it and barely made it to the nearby washroom to projectile vomit. I mostly hit the toilet, cleaned up what I could, but apparently didn’t get it all. There are things that I can eat now that I refused as a child, and some things that I still can’t choke down, even for politeness’ sake. If need be, the phrase “Have you ever seen projectile vomit?” seems to dissuade most people from pursuing the path of insisting I try things I clearly have no desire to. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/55 "2013-06-29T01:06:00Z")
You’re all fussing about clueless people who insist you try something you know you don’t like. But wait, it gets worse! Sometimes it gets _serious!_ There have been news stories that I’ve read (sorry, I can’t find any cites right now) of parties, the kind of birthday party full of little kids, where the hostess just had to insist that a certain little kiddie try her _delicious home-baked peanut butter cookies!_ You already know where this is going. Little kid declines, saying “I’m allergic to peanuts!”. Party hostess-mom-person insists. Little kid declines. Party hostess-mom-person insists, cajoles, wheedles, etc. Little kid declines. Party hostess-mom-person insists, cajoles, wheedles, etc. Little kid, worn down, takes a bite. Little kid . . . Okay, you already know how it ends. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/56 "2013-06-29T01:55:42Z")
I am not quite so militant about it. I would never insist someone try something once it is offered and refused but I do cut a little slack if someone is proud of a new dish and really wants feedback. More than once I have been pleaseantly surprised and on a few occassions I wanted to barf. I tend to eat what I put on my own plate and if someone else puts something on my plate I reserve the right to simply not eat it. ``` I like to cook and I also like to entertain guests for dinner. If I don't know them that well I inquire ahead of time about their tastes. My worst experience has been with wild duck and beaver. Both of them made me want to barf. I took one bite of each. ``` ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/57 "2013-06-29T02:00:10Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > I get this a lot. “Just try it, you’ll like it!” And I will admit that I have tried some things that I have found I like cooked differently than the way my mother cooked it when I was growing up, but I am very firm in my response to food pushers. > > The first offer is met with, “No, thank you.” The second offer is met with, “No. I am an adult and I choose what I eat.” If it gets any farther than that I work in a few swears and some name calling. “I will not eat that. Who the fuck are you to push food I don’t want on me, Sam I Am?” And if they STILL persist, I kick them in the nuts. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/58 "2013-06-29T02:01:50Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > My worst experience has been with wild duck and beaver. Both of them made me want to barf. We’re still talking about food, right? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/59 "2013-06-29T02:12:09Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Who has ever fallen in love with someone that they’ve been pressured to eat? Too many examples to mention, but how about feta cheese? My wife thought it looked like the most disgusting thing she had ever seen floating in the brine, got her to try it in a salad. At some point after that I was looking for a block of feta I bought the night before in the fridge, she said she made a salad and ate it. :eek:You ate an entire block of feta? \*BTW I resisted the urge to joke about the typo 😉 ---
**Author:** ![spazurek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@spazurek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spazurek)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139/60 "2013-06-29T02:13:47Z")
Ok I’m gonna say it: Pickiness is obnoxious. _[Runs away covering his head]_ …Yes I know, saying you don’t like something doesn’t equal pickiness. But the line is fuzzy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeez-when-are-you-old-enough-to-say-no-i-really-dont-want-to-try-that-food/662139.md?page=4)