What You Just Ate, Is Your Image - Final
If the old sang that you are what you eat is really true, than what you eat can describe you. It could show your beleifs, values, habits, origin, social class, status, attitude, lifestyle, personality, as well as many other details. When I realized this I was schocked with how much information as simple as what someone is eating. That is all you need you don't need to look at them, hear them talk, become their friend, just look at how and what they are eating. Think about some grocery store items like energy bars, coffee, frozen dinners, twinkies. Now picture someone buying these items in your head, what charateristics can you pick out about this item. Do you have any stereo-types about the kind of person that eats that item. Its amazing what attributes you cna pickout by simply focusing on the food. When I think of someone buying an energy bar I think of someone who is in shape, good health, fitness, fast paced lifestyle. Coffee on the other hand is well associated with quick energy early in the morning before going to work(also known as in rush and late for work but “give me my coffee!!!”). Maybe high stress environment and lifestyle, sound familiar yet? Oh and do not try telling me with a straight face that you have never heard anyone say “I can’t live without coffee”. Of course what would America do without twinkies. If you had to create a profile for the person eating this twinkie it might be something along the lines of fat slob, no job, no life, couch potato living off of tax payers money. Yes that’s a little extreme but hey it’s a quick first thought observation right? But don’t forget your frozen dinners. Now let me take a wild stab to if see if I have any similar thoughts. Can’t cook or at least cook anything palatable. Likes things to be quick, simple, and cheap. Is a self proposed microwave chef master. Now then if you are capable of judging and making quick observations like that by simply walking by some else in a grocery store and immediately connecting the food they are about to purchase with these common thoughts or asumptions then you can read their identity, in this case by what they are putting in their mouths. To explain this I will use my own family as examples of this ability of human nature’s.
My step mom Laurie for example has come to love gourmet restaurants. I mean real gourmet restaurants not P.F. Changs or anything like that. Well she would find this addiction in of all places; Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We were there because I had a five day golf tournament there, at a course which happened to be owned by Disney World. Well my dad decided to book a vacation and if you ever had a burger where the burger looks extremely small like you could take it in one bite and swallow it hole, well my golf tournament would be the meat in that burger. We would go to a number of very high class restaurants like ones that Disney Executives went to regularly for lunch. Where the entire meal including all four courses takes from 2 to 4 hours. Where they give you the menu and your immediate reaction is what the ****. As you sit there staring at the menu and saying that you have no idea what half of these words mean. Then you start thinking that menu was written in some foreign language and then translated for you by someone who does not understand the common fools version of english. Where the first item on the menu looks something like “Grilled white breast meat chicken marinated in rosemary $$$$$$ $$$$$ wine with a mixture of seared vegetables surrounded by mashed potatoes whipped to perfection.” Then for the fun of it you try and take a peek at the tab and your Dads’s response while simply grabbing his wallet with no expression on his face says “you don’t want to know”. I have since learned to keep my head down and follow my stomachs lead by enjoying the Cheesecake and if your curious its $45 a slice and both your wallet and your stomach are going to feel it if you get it. Simply watching my step mother looking at the menu in a high class restaurant is tell tale obvious. You can tell she likes it by the way she tries model her mannerisms the same way the high level business people are. Putting her salad fork and butter knife in the same places they do. Yes that actually does mean something in a true high class restaurant. It can mean the difference to the waiter like service and food are great or downright horrible. If you have ever heard the old sang sang “never piss off the guy who is cooking your food”. Well in a restaurant like these something that simple like where you just put your fork on the entrée can mean the difference between you ending up over the toilet tonight and getting desert free. So for her trying to look very professional while cutting her steak is like fighting her stomachs reaction to not let her eye balls get as wide as wiley coyote watching the road runner. Rather then every other business person here who appears to be an emotionless robot.
As for my dad I would strongly suggest not watching what he eats but how he eats. My dad is a Vietnam war veteran. Yes his dietary habits now, started in the navy. Coming out of high school my dad was not going to college. Not to make matters worse my dad’s draft number was 3. So for him it quickly became a matter of enlist of and choose where to go and what to do or be drafted and have the military choose for you. So he enlisted in the navy and would go on to become a MedaVac flight medic. Since they were constantly on going rescuing fellow soldiers they had to be ready to go in a moments notice. Therefore he obtained a habit of eating everything he could at one point in time because that might be his last chance to eat for the rest of the day. According to him he would get about one large meal a day usually would not eat again for another 27 hours or so. By large meal though I mean take breakfast, dinner, and small snack size proportions for a 20 year old 6 foot 4 and two hundred and ten pound guy. Though that’s one meal, even my stomach feels a little sick thinking about all of that food at once. But then again I guess you learn to deal with it. Today though my dad does not eat quite that much specifically at once thank god.
Then there is my brother Michael. If he could take a pill that has all the nutrients, proteins and such that you need to stay alive. He would buy out the store. Michael is a computer freak an IT guy so to speak. There is a reason why he works at best buy on the geek squad. Its actually quite amazing because he can pull that horrible look off. Michael will eat anything he can swallow quickly and easily to get back to one thing his computer. Micheal loves the quick, and simple meals aka Stouffers, Marie Calenders, Hungry Man, Lean Cusine. Surprisingly he actually has the time need to cook each entrée made by Stouffers memorized. All to allow him to get back to his computer. Im starting to think we need to find a way to feed the computer and then it can somehow feed him. Then he would not have to drag his geek butt down the stairs to use the microwave.
Maybe you knew or where the kid growing up that could not have each food item touch any other. That is my step sister Rachel, today at 17 years old. Rachel truly does not care what she is eating. In her words “its all about the presentation”. She is like the suburban Midwest Jersey Shore all in one package. She will only eat if it looks good. Virtually my opposite in that sense. So if want to know how good you really are at cooking just ask her. She will tell you.
For me though well I have earned the reputation in my family of being a human garbage disposal. To me I truly do not care what I am eating. I have sort of the mix of eating habits and or abilities if want you to put it that way of everyone in my family. Like Laurie I love gourmet food come on who doesn’t. Like my dad I can eat quite a staggering amount in a short time. Similar to Michael I eat very quickly though I did not use to be. Though I always eat more at nicer restaurants than cheaper ones. In Rachel’s words “it’s all about the presentation” therefore why I eat more. Though what I hold different is my outerspace high level metabolism. As a matter of fact my doctor nearly gave me a drug to slow my metabolism rate down so my body would absorb more food. Well I didn’t get the drug though because apparently there were two components of the drug which were also used in performance enhancing drugs. At that time I was on my high school boys golf team in my freshman year playing varsity and after six tournaments I was number two on the team. So I was not exactly in a position to take anything that could be seen as performance enhancing afterall not many freshman golfers start their high school golf career on varsity. So I would continue all through high school and not gain any real weight. For example I started my freshman year at 5’8” and 140. I would exit as a Senior being 6’2” and 150.
When I look at each person in my family I can see how what they are eating as well as how they can have a major impression as to who they are. Before this i did not really understand how good much what your eating or what someone else is eating can have such a big effect on them. Now if you will excuse me the 12 ounce steak I had apparently has only made me more hungry so I need to find something to eat. Remember watch what you eat, not for our health but for someone else’s judgment of you.
If the old sang that you are what you eat is really true, than what you eat can describe you. It could show your beleifs, values, habits, origin, social class, status, attitude, lifestyle, personality, as well as many other details. When I realized this I was schocked with how much information as simple as what someone is eating. That is all you need you don't need to look at them, hear them talk, become their friend, just look at how and what they are eating. Think about some grocery store items like energy bars, coffee, frozen dinners, twinkies. Now picture someone buying these items in your head, what charateristics can you pick out about this item. Do you have any stereo-types about the kind of person that eats that item. Its amazing what attributes you cna pickout by simply focusing on the food. When I think of someone buying an energy bar I think of someone who is in shape, good health, fitness, fast paced lifestyle. Coffee on the other hand is well associated with quick energy early in the morning before going to work(also known as in rush and late for work but “give me my coffee!!!”). Maybe high stress environment and lifestyle, sound familiar yet? Oh and do not try telling me with a straight face that you have never heard anyone say “I can’t live without coffee”. Of course what would America do without twinkies. If you had to create a profile for the person eating this twinkie it might be something along the lines of fat slob, no job, no life, couch potato living off of tax payers money. Yes that’s a little extreme but hey it’s a quick first thought observation right? But don’t forget your frozen dinners. Now let me take a wild stab to if see if I have any similar thoughts. Can’t cook or at least cook anything palatable. Likes things to be quick, simple, and cheap. Is a self proposed microwave chef master. Now then if you are capable of judging and making quick observations like that by simply walking by some else in a grocery store and immediately connecting the food they are about to purchase with these common thoughts or asumptions then you can read their identity, in this case by what they are putting in their mouths. To explain this I will use my own family as examples of this ability of human nature’s.
My step mom Laurie for example has come to love gourmet restaurants. I mean real gourmet restaurants not P.F. Changs or anything like that. Well she would find this addiction in of all places; Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We were there because I had a five day golf tournament there, at a course which happened to be owned by Disney World. Well my dad decided to book a vacation and if you ever had a burger where the burger looks extremely small like you could take it in one bite and swallow it hole, well my golf tournament would be the meat in that burger. We would go to a number of very high class restaurants like ones that Disney Executives went to regularly for lunch. Where the entire meal including all four courses takes from 2 to 4 hours. Where they give you the menu and your immediate reaction is what the ****. As you sit there staring at the menu and saying that you have no idea what half of these words mean. Then you start thinking that menu was written in some foreign language and then translated for you by someone who does not understand the common fools version of english. Where the first item on the menu looks something like “Grilled white breast meat chicken marinated in rosemary $$$$$$ $$$$$ wine with a mixture of seared vegetables surrounded by mashed potatoes whipped to perfection.” Then for the fun of it you try and take a peek at the tab and your Dads’s response while simply grabbing his wallet with no expression on his face says “you don’t want to know”. I have since learned to keep my head down and follow my stomachs lead by enjoying the Cheesecake and if your curious its $45 a slice and both your wallet and your stomach are going to feel it if you get it. Simply watching my step mother looking at the menu in a high class restaurant is tell tale obvious. You can tell she likes it by the way she tries model her mannerisms the same way the high level business people are. Putting her salad fork and butter knife in the same places they do. Yes that actually does mean something in a true high class restaurant. It can mean the difference to the waiter like service and food are great or downright horrible. If you have ever heard the old sang sang “never piss off the guy who is cooking your food”. Well in a restaurant like these something that simple like where you just put your fork on the entrée can mean the difference between you ending up over the toilet tonight and getting desert free. So for her trying to look very professional while cutting her steak is like fighting her stomachs reaction to not let her eye balls get as wide as wiley coyote watching the road runner. Rather then every other business person here who appears to be an emotionless robot.As for my dad I would strongly suggest not watching what he eats but how he eats. My dad is a Vietnam war veteran. Yes his dietary habits now, started in the navy. Coming out of high school my dad was not going to college. Not to make matters worse my dad’s draft number was 3. So for him it quickly became a matter of enlist of and choose where to go and what to do or be drafted and have the military choose for you. So he enlisted in the navy and would go on to become a MedaVac flight medic. Since they were constantly on going rescuing fellow soldiers they had to be ready to go in a moments notice. Therefore he obtained a habit of eating everything he could at one point in time because that might be his last chance to eat for the rest of the day. According to him he would get about one large meal a day usually would not eat again for another 27 hours or so. By large meal though I mean take breakfast, dinner, and small snack size proportions for a 20 year old 6 foot 4 and two hundred and ten pound guy. Though that’s one meal, even my stomach feels a little sick thinking about all of that food at once. But then again I guess you learn to deal with it. Today though my dad does not eat quite that much specifically at once thank god.
Then there is my brother Michael. If he could take a pill that has all the nutrients, proteins and such that you need to stay alive. He would buy out the store. Michael is a computer freak an IT guy so to speak. There is a reason why he works at best buy on the geek squad. Its actually quite amazing because he can pull that horrible look off. Michael will eat anything he can swallow quickly and easily to get back to one thing his computer. Micheal loves the quick, and simple meals aka Stouffers, Marie Calenders, Hungry Man, Lean Cusine. Surprisingly he actually has the time need to cook each entrée made by Stouffers memorized. All to allow him to get back to his computer. Im starting to think we need to find a way to feed the computer and then it can somehow feed him. Then he would not have to drag his geek butt down the stairs to use the microwave.
Maybe you knew or where the kid growing up that could not have each food item touch any other. That is my step sister Rachel, today at 17 years old. Rachel truly does not care what she is eating. In her words “its all about the presentation”. She is like the suburban Midwest Jersey Shore all in one package. She will only eat if it looks good. Virtually my opposite in that sense. So if want to know how good you really are at cooking just ask her. She will tell you.
For me though well I have earned the reputation in my family of being a human garbage disposal. To me I truly do not care what I am eating. I have sort of the mix of eating habits and or abilities if want you to put it that way of everyone in my family. Like Laurie I love gourmet food come on who doesn’t. Like my dad I can eat quite a staggering amount in a short time. Similar to Michael I eat very quickly though I did not use to be. Though I always eat more at nicer restaurants than cheaper ones. In Rachel’s words “it’s all about the presentation” therefore why I eat more. Though what I hold different is my outerspace high level metabolism. As a matter of fact my doctor nearly gave me a drug to slow my metabolism rate down so my body would absorb more food. Well I didn’t get the drug though because apparently there were two components of the drug which were also used in performance enhancing drugs. At that time I was on my high school boys golf team in my freshman year playing varsity and after six tournaments I was number two on the team. So I was not exactly in a position to take anything that could be seen as performance enhancing afterall not many freshman golfers start their high school golf career on varsity. So I would continue all through high school and not gain any real weight. For example I started my freshman year at 5’8” and 140. I would exit as a Senior being 6’2” and 150.
When I look at each person in my family I can see how what they are eating as well as how they can have a major impression as to who they are. Before this i did not really understand how good much what your eating or what someone else is eating can have such a big effect on them. Now if you will excuse me the 12 ounce steak I had apparently has only made me more hungry so I need to find something to eat. Remember watch what you eat, not for our health but for someone else’s judgment of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment