# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 223
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4740 "2025-04-17T23:51:52Z")
I don’t want no money. I don’t want no bread. And I am not lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4741 "2025-04-17T23:55:19Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > So in “Giving homeless people money” in Great Debates, miserable idiot Czarcasm makes up something ugly about me and throws in a bonus insult. I saw that and thought it didn’t even make sense. You offered a woman asking for money a package of pitas. Czarcasm accuses you of trying to foist off your unwanted trash on the woman. Does he think you just carry unwanted pita with you by the dozen? Were you supposed to be feeding ducks? If you have a whole package of food with you, you probably _wanted_ to own that package. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4742 "2025-04-17T23:56:37Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I was going to say the same thing about Japanese culture as well. Although for a culture that didn’t really eat bread until very recently, they certainly have adopted it with gusto, to the point of producing the world’s most expensive and intricately-engineered toaster. > **[Japanese toaster that costs £215 divides opinion](https://www.the-independent.com/life-style/food-and-drink/mitsubishi-japanese-toaster-cost-price-bread-oven-technology-twitter-reaction-a8918791.html)** > > 'This would make some divine French Toast' It has to be preheated, it can only toast one slice at a time, it needs to rest between toastings so it doesn’t overheat, and it’s intended for bread that’s sliced much thicker than your typical American white loaf, but by all accounts it makes the most perfect slice of toast you’ve ever eaten. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4743 "2025-04-17T23:58:35Z")
Yeah well, you have to show respect for your food. Apologize for neglecting the beef. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Q2blfrQBH1g/maxresdefault.jpg "Tampopo - Ramen Eating Instructions") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2blfrQBH1g) ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4744 "2025-04-18T00:08:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Although for a culture that didn’t really eat bread until very recently, they certainly have adopted it with gusto, to the point of producing the world’s most expensive and intricately-engineered toaster. Yeah, the Japanese word for bread is “pan” (pronounced like “pawn”) which they got from the Portuguese word for bread, since it was introduced to them by Portuguese missionaries and explorers in the 16th century. So, while they’ve known about it for hundreds of years, that’s still millennia later than much of the rest of the world. And in fact, it wasn’t really until after WWII that it became something close to a staple, as the convenience of bread compared to rice as a basic starch in the diet became very important, as well as the fact that the US was sending over bread and milk to Japan for the postwar relief effort, both items that were previously not part of your traditional Japanese diet. > **[Japan Pan: Bread’s Role in Japanese Cuisine | TOKYO RESTAURANTS GUIDE| find...](https://restaurants-guide.tokyo/column/japan-pan-breads-role-in-japanese-cuisine/)** > > Japan Pan: Bread’s Role in Japanese Cuisine > It was not until after World War II that Japanese people began eating bread as a staple, not just as a snack. During the time when food was scarce, relief supplies that included flour were sent to Japan by foreign countries, like the US, and bread was rationed. In 1946, bread and milk were served for school lunch. Having eaten bread in childhood, more and more people began to eat bread for a meal. As the 1964 Tokyo Olympics accelerated the westernization of the Japanese diet and lifestyle, European breads such as French baguettes and croissants, and Danish pastries, were introduced to Japan. In the 1980s, the number of convenience stores shot up and a variety of bread, most of which were modified for Japanese palates, became available. And just recently bread has surpassed rice in the Japanese diet, but I mean _very_ recently. > **[‘Bread is much easier’: how Japan fell out of love with rice](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/09/bread-easier-japan-rice-staple-food)** > > The traditional staple is losing the battle with more convenient and cheaper alternative foods > Rice consumption in Japan peaked in 1962, when every person ate an average of 118kg a year, or just over five average-sized bowls a day, according to the agriculture ministry. By 2020, per-capita consumption had more than halved to just under 51kg annually. And in 2011, Japanese households spent more on bread than on rice for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4745 "2025-04-18T00:22:13Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > So in “Giving homeless people money” in Great Debates, miserable idiot Czarcasm makes up something ugly about me and throws in a bonus insult. No argument, his response was jerkish. But he has personally been homeless and has first-hand experience with plenty of assholes insulting him or giving him trash, so it’s understandable that he is very sensitive about it. Granting him a little grace on this topic wouldn’t hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4746 "2025-04-18T00:24:43Z")
What trash? Joanna didn’t give anyone trash, so stop spreading the lie that she did. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4747 "2025-04-18T00:30:37Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > Joanna didn’t give anyone trash, so stop spreading the lie that she did. I think the nuance was missed somewhat. What @TroutMan was saying is that **Czarcasm** has a history of being homeless and has had unwanted items foisted onto him, including literal trash, so anything that might even resemble that in any way can spur an overreaction. There was even an acknowledgement that it was a jerkish response. There was no suggestion from TroutMan that Johanna _actually_ gave anyone trash. Some people have reasons for what seem to be outrageous behavior. It doesn’t excuse it, but they aren’t just being an asshole to be an asshole. I was even homeless but not long enough to really get the full experience (thank goodness), just long enough to be very uncomfortable and most of all, really scared. So I understand how visceral the topic of homelessness can be for anyone who has any firsthand experience with it. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4748 "2025-04-18T00:33:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Isn’t that pretty much every culture? How sedentarycentric of you! ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4749 "2025-04-18T00:34:09Z")
To a miller, everything starts to look like flour. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4750 "2025-04-18T00:37:48Z")
Thank you, correct. And apologies to @Johanna if it seemed I was suggesting her gesture was anything but kind. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4751 "2025-04-18T00:47:39Z")
Thanks. Like I said, I was thinking of all the old movies, novels, poems, art, you name it, plus economic histories, all about how the poor are clamoring for bread. I felt it ironic to see bread spurned just because it wasn’t cash. I didn’t have any cash that time, as I hadn’t gotten my first paycheck yet. All I had on me was wheat bread. It was alleged the first three doom-like notes of [Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C♯ Minor](https://youtu.be/sCtixpIWBto?si=qzFpSj3cmt1XLiK8) represented peasants crying to the tsar: “Give us bread!” But I cannot vouch for the truth of that. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4752 "2025-04-18T01:08:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Although for a culture that didn’t really eat bread until very recently, Chinese Bao buns date back to the 3rd century. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4753 "2025-04-18T01:11:27Z")
First, I have not read the posts or thread in question. However, I gather you had just bought groceries and offered some to a homeless person. There may be important details I am missing. But, that sounds like the right thing to do. Also > [@Johanna](#): > > If you disrespect bread, which is central to my ancestral culture, I consider you lower than a snake’s belly. Jagoff. I ask this sincerely- just what is your ancestral culture? Seeing that your some sort of ethnolinguist and knowledageable about so many cultures, I have no idea which one you were born into. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4754 "2025-04-18T01:13:59Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > To a miller, everything starts to look like flour. I laughed. @DocCathode, pretty sure she said Sicilian. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4755 "2025-04-18T01:15:07Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > Chinese Bao buns date back to the 3rd century I’m not sure I would consider bao to be “bread” so much as “dumplings”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4756 "2025-04-18T01:27:44Z")
I’m Sicilian. From the isle of the grain goddess Ceres. (My grandparents immigrated to America.) You know, it’s been _such_ a long time since I wrote out a proper pitting for anyone. For old times’ sake. How’d I do? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4757 "2025-04-18T01:38:39Z")
Tell me, did the person you offered pita bread to while you were sitting in your car eating lunch know anything about your Sicilian history or the rich history of bread?My opinion is that your attack on that person might have been uninformed and that, unlike myself, makes for an easy target that cannot answer back. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4758 "2025-04-18T01:45:58Z")
What attack? I didn’t fucking attack anybody. What is wrong with your goddamn head? I’ll gladly attack you for being a self-righteous clod. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/4759 "2025-04-18T01:56:26Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What attack? I didn’t fucking attack anybody You thrust your bread at them without consent, you _monster_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=222) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532.md?page=224)