Over on Linda's site she posted about having an open mind and how it really just doesn't work for her.
I started to type a simple reply and then the next thing I know I've got a 800 thousand ward diatribe (is that word used properly? I doubt it but it is what came into my head) and decided that it was no longer a proper response in the comment section and that I had to just move it over here instead.
Hope some of her readers still find this response and take it into consideration.
Linda - I think I might chalk this up to being stubborn.
Making your mind up one way or another and being bull-headed pre-disposes you to those feelings that you've already determined that you have.
Did you really give Zumba a fair shot or did you just go to shut your sister up and then to get the "I told you this would suck so I'm going to go do something else and you can think of how miserable I am right now"???
I say this because I'm the same bloody way. If I tell you I won't like something then shut the hell up and leave me alone because I'm not going to like it no matter what. Even if I might end up liking it by some miracle I'm going to be miserable and tell you I HATE IT because you will not be winning this war!
However, I've been trying to change that slowly and give in and really apply the whole "open mind" concept by going into something without my normal "I'll prove you wrong" attitude.
I've caved on Sushi but it took me 4 attempts.
First 3 attempts I flat out said "I'm going to hate this, but I'll try it" and when I tried it I was right, it absolutely sucked.
Then, on the 4th try I did something different.
You see, Sushi is something I've always just known that I hate. I never had it and never wanted it but dammit I guarantee that that shit is horrible and belongs no where near my body. What the hell are you trying to do, kill me? No sir eee. I've had many offers to go out and have sushi and I believe the response "Are you fucking crazy" has left my lips a few times. I'm a picky eater and I'll stick to the shit that I like.
So, with the new love of my life being a huge fan of Sushi I figured that at least taking her to her favorite Sushi place was a good compromise. (I wrote about that here) I could be near sushi, but as long as I didn't accidentally touch it I should be fine.
Then it happened. I have my nice Filet Mignon (why does blogger not recognize this as a word?) sitting in front of me and I get the look with....
Love: "Are you at least going to try it?"
grrouch: "um, I've got this beautiful steak, why would I want to ruin it?"
Love: "really?"
grrouch: "Tell you what, when I'm close to done I'll think about it."
And that seemed to placate her. However, she left me a piece and now I had to eat my words. So I prepared a piece of my steak as a flavor savior. I dipped the sushi in the spice and quickly ate it. Then I quickly put some steak in my mouth to cover the flavor up before I knew what it really tasted like.
Love: "So?"
grrouch: "Yeah, it pretty much sucked, but I tried it. Aren't you proud of me?"
Love: "Sushi is amazing"
grrouch: "Steak is amazing, Sushi is poison"
Over the course of our next couple of visits I humored her and tried exactly one piece every time we went with similar results.
Finally (what I was trying to get to way up there) I decided to play a different game. How about we tackle Sushi the serge way - lets spice it up and give me a chance to cover up the fish taste and see if I can like it or not. So, she ordered something spicy and I got my chicken teriyaki plate (which, again, was good). This time I ate a piece early so I could enjoy the rest of my meal but with all of the added spice I actually kind of liked it. I think I ended up eating 3 or 4 pieces that time and had a lot of my own food for left overs.
Then I did something that probably still eats at my soul to this day.
I told her that next time we came we'd order only sushi and I would give it a real try... however, if it was too bad then I'd have to order off the "REAL" menu.
That next time that we went we ordered up 3 different spicy rolls with various thins like Jalapenos and Sarachi sauce and overall I started to like all of them. Now, as long as it's spicy, I can eat sushi and actually enjoy it.
In fact, I've had cravings for it at times and that kind of scares me.
However, the point of this all is this.
Having an open mind is one thing. A true open mind is hard to do.
Most of the time you are pretending to have an open mind just so you can say "Fuck you, I told you I'd hate it and I do"
And Dear Linda,
That is my response to your blog in 100 words or less
Serge, I had a similar experience with sushi. I was very close minded about it growing up on an isolated small town in northern Canadia land. As it turned out we didn't even have a sushi place until I was a teenager. The idea of everything being raw was the turn off for me. As I get older, I have strayed away from the boring "caucasian" food and branched out a bit. The tipping point for me was that my daughter absolutely fell in love with sushi when she was about 5. After I caved and ate with her a few times, I've grown to like it, and now it's "our thing". I'd go for the deep fried variety if you want to ease yourself into it, it's got a different texture and is usually spiced nicely.
ReplyDeleteI have not been to a place with deep fried sushi, I'll have to look around.
DeleteDang -- you are now trolling Linda's blog for readers and posting ala Rob. Am I in the right place?
ReplyDeleteYes -- you discovered that sushi, with proper sauces, is pretty good. Any generic sushi can be flooded with soy sauce and become okay. And actually, a few pieces of sushi with a meal is not bad. Don't know that I could ever get to the point, however, of eating a meal of just sushi. An Asian grocery store in my town, however, has some kick ass deli squid salad. Squid salad, seaweed salad and sushi makes a nice change o' pace meal.
btw -- A week or so ago I sent you an email about poker specials on Super Bowl Sunday. It looks like Mirage is the place to go. Heard of any other good ones? Last year the Mirage was so hot, smokey and loud that I opted for Harrah's instead.
I saw your email while at work and then forgot about it. Sorry about that.
DeleteHowever I haven't been on the strip since the blogger tourney and haven't paid attention to any promis running.
This year I'm having a stress free gathering for the super bowl Where I will drink heavily and eat like a pig!
grrouchie, I totally know what you mean about hating something and setting your mind just to prove yourself right. I swear, I have actually really tried to disengage from my predetermined feelings--you know, shake the Etch-a-Sketch and see what happens. But inevitably, I get back to, "I knew it! Why did I waste my time?"
ReplyDeleteSushi for me is out of the question. I was 18 before I tried cream cheese and 36 when I ate a chick pea. I won't live long enough to try sushi. And you couldn't pay me a thousand dollars to eat a stalk of celery.
I love that you're a picky eater.
My first chick pea was last year, at 35 Lol.
DeleteI will always be a picky eater.
I hate going places without some sort of serge comfort food on the menu.
Sauce is just a masking agent.
ReplyDeleteMasking agents are the only reason I eat a lot of the food i normally consume.
DeleteI dunno who Lightning is insulting more, you or me.
ReplyDeleteAs for sushi, there is enough money in the world, or enough bare breasts, to get me to put raw fish in my mouth.
Lightning be all jealous of us and shit Rob, that's all.
DeleteAlso - I'm willing to try pretty much anything, but I'll 97% of the time have my mind made up that I'm going to hate it and tell you I was right so I'll never have to do that shit again.
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ReplyDelete