I’m sure there have been many variants on this topic before - the one about ordering milk in a bar was a good one. What brought it to mind this time is a coworker who sips drinks out of a cup with a straw all day long. Normally I wouldn’t give it a second thought if it was at a fast food restaurant or the movies or something. But our company just switched to paper straws and this guy had such a fit I realized that pretty much any time I look at him he’s sucking on that straw. Had he not been about to go ballistic, I would have said “you’re a 52 year old man; learn how to drink from a big boy cup”.
Another example is a local radio host who insists ice cream cones are for children; adults should be eating out of a bowl only.
Finally, same office - different co-worker- has very strong opinions about adults eating those Lunchable snack packs (essentially cheese, meat and crackers ostensibly for kids to bring to school).
Are there any behaviors that you find somewhat childish when you see an adult exhibiting them?
On this subject, it’s recently* become the norm in chain restaurants (e.g. Denny’s, Outback) to give you a straw with your soft drink if you order one, even though the soda’s served in a regular glass. At many of these places, the drink will arrive with the straw already in it.
At first, my reaction was, ‘WTF do I need a straw for? I’m not a kid.’ But now I just shrug. And if the straw’s already in the glass, I use it.
*Like over the past decade or two. When you get old, your perspective on time gets all funny.
I’m with ya, RT. It’s not that I never use a straw; it will take me a bit of effort to drink a nonalcoholic beverage at a restaurant without a straw. No rational reason just a bit of psychological “ick factor”. If the straw is already in it then it’s kind of too late but I won’t ask for one. This guy, though, can NOT enjoy a drink of he can’t sip it through a straw (AND THE PAPER ONES FALL APART IN HIS MOUTH AFTER THE FIRST SIP, GODDAMIT!!!:mad: ) Oh, calamity.
I, on the other hand, have never thought of straws as for children, ever. Never crossed my mind until I read this. If drinking a drink with ice, I strongly prefer a straw. No ice, don’t use straw.
Some people also have teeth sensitive to cold, and prefer a straw for that reason. I don’t have that excuse, and frankly don’t need it. There is nothing childish about preferring a straw. It’s a preference, nothing more.
Cartoons. I mean, there’s some that are clearly made for an older audience and you have animated films and such, fine. But the Cartoon Network kiddie stuff (“Oh, but some of it is so clever!”) seems like an obsession you should have moved on from by now.
Well, I do some pretty juvenile stuff myself (I still jump on the moonbounce at kids’ birthday parties, for example), so I’m hesitant to pass judgment. Hesitant, but I’ll do it.
The example that comes to mind for me: I was a bridesmaid in my best friend’s wedding, and she had a buffet spread with a pretty good, standard selection of food. You know, meat, noodles, potatoes, vegetables, dessert. After the wedding, a couple was nice enough to give me a ride back to the hotel, but before dropping me off, they had to swing by the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant because the husband was a picky eater and didn’t like any of the standard fare at the wedding. Which seemed like exactly the sort of thing you’d need to do to accommodate a five year old.
That’s a specific example, but to make it more general, people who are so picky that they cannot find anything to eat on a menu, or at a place with a generous selection of foods. I realize that some people may have some sort of condition that makes them extra sensitive to that sort of thing (aren’t some autistic people extremely picky about the flavors and textures of food?), but regardless, that behavior is so much more common in young children that it strikes me as juvenile behavior.
P.S. I’m not referring to people who have food allergies, or dietary restrictions due to their religion or something. I’m referring to people who simply don’t like the taste of almost everything except pizza and chicken nuggets.
Not exactly in the same vein, but thru hiking the Appalachian Trail does have a lot of similarities to becoming a child again, and I believe that is perhaps a subconscious way of healing issues that are/should be done when one is a child. What I mean by this is that one’s life and task become very simple, eat, sleep and walk. The path is easy to follow, so even a child can do it. One stays in hostels often and sleep in child like bunkbeds and other sleeping arrangements which is more suitable for a child, and the adult hiker must give up adult expectations to enjoy the simple things that are provided. There is lots of help given by others (called trail angels), treats (called trail magic), and also they provide rides very freely (as hikers don’t have cars and require others for such rides). Plus most importantly one is praised many many times for doing this very simple task (like praising a child who is learning to walk), and helped when one gets off track or in trouble. It is also not uncommon upon arriving at a hostel to be ordered to take off one’s cloths, given town clothed to wear while yours are washed (in a changing room, not told to strip down in front of everyone).
It can be a very healing journey and often is. Many thru hikers have stated it restored their faith in humanity. I believe it is this child like aspect and support for that by others, that really helps heal people.
I’ve gotten the same advice, but that was because I have thin enamel in a few spots and soda is somewhat acidic, which in hindsight may be how I got thin enamel in the first place. That said, though, plastic straws are about €1 per 100-pack around here, so if I ever needed them at work I’d just buy my own and keep in a desk drawer.
When I was a kid other kids would point their fingers and go "“Ummmmmmmmmmmmm”. if they saw another kid doing something in a different way to what they thought should be the standard. So pretty much any time anyone does that.
When my husband eats hotdish with a SPOON! OMG I can’t even stand to look at him when does this. I asked him why when I first noticed it - he said because you can get more food on a spoon than on a fork.
