The Plight of the Picky Eater

The plight of the picky eater is similar to the plight of the allergic, if you ask me. I have two reasons why. The first is extremely obvious; namely, that there are foods you must avoid. Although, there is some question about this word "must." Avoiding for the sake of your health and even life is quite a different thing from avoiding for the sake of your taste buds and your comfort level.

I used to be more sympathetic to the picky eater, after all, there are foods I don't like, and therefore avoid. But, then I married my husband, who could at least place in the finals of the Worlds Pickiest Eater contest. I have met a few others who came close to rivaling his pickiness, but none who clearly surpass it. My children have learned these habits as well, and now I am stuck in a houseful of people, all with differing dietary demands. And I, the lone member of the family who would enjoy food with actual flavor, is forced to sacrifice it.

The second way in which the picky is like the allergic has to do with the extensive thought process that is involved in avoidance. I have heard people complain about the lengths to which they are forced to go to cater to the person with a serious peanut allergy. The allergic person cannot be in the same room as a peanut. He cannot eat foods that were prepared with tools that also prepared peanuts. He cannot smell the breath of a person eating a peanut in any form. The consequence of this is so dire, that he will go to any lengths to avoid peanuts. In his mind, and in reality, his life depends on it.

The picky eater, similarly, will go to any lengths to avoid certain foods as well. My husband, for example, has deemed pickles as a "tainting" food, meaning that anything that a pickle touches will also taste like a pickle. And, a small thing like a couple drops of pickle juice on your hamburger cannot be ignored. It will ruin the entire meal, and make the burger completely inedible.

Here's another example: at a family gathering, a family member ate an olive from a dish that also had pickles on it. Then, that person picked up a clean fork, by the handle, and handed it to my husband, who used it to eat his meal. He was concerned that as he ate his meal, he might smell pickle juice on the handle of the fork, which would ruin the meal, which had quite obviously not touched pickles at all.

Now, to be honest, I don't love pickles either. I generally don't eat them, and only rarely have any reason to buy them. However, if I taste a little pickle on my burger, it is not the end of the world. I ignore it like everyone else. The pickiest eaters, however, are not able to do this. The consequences of tasting pickle juice are so dire, in their minds but not in reality, (a key difference which unfortunately affects my level of compassion) they will go to almost any length to avoid it. The picky eater may request that the pickles be left at another table, or may consider building some kind of barrier between his plate and the plates of people around him, or use napkins or towels to hold everything, not because he is a germaphobe, but because he is a picklephobe.

Of course, one cannot ignore the obvious difference. The person with a severe peanut allergy who gets a whiff of peanut butter may die, or at least suffer serious trauma. The picky eater who gets a whiff of pickle juice will be forced to suffer making the I-just-ate-a-pickle face. (Which I submit causes greater suffering to the people around him than to the picky eater himself!) But, I guess there is cause to respect a person who has the strength to go to such lengths to avoid discomfort. Right?