It Tastes Funny

Ask people to name a type of national cooking and Italian will be close to the top every time. There’s a good reason. It tastes great.

When I was in Italy a couple of years ago, I didn’t feel I had very many delectable meals. Not very much was appealing to my palate. Don’t blame the chefs. It wasn’t their fault. My taster was off.

Blame it on pain and drugs! We went to Italy prior to my hip-replacement surgery. The discomfort was so great that I was on Oxycontin, a narcotic to take it away. When I felt sore, I really couldn’t concentrate on the quality of a meal. If I took the drugs, it sort of made everything a blur and definitely lessened the enjoyment of food. The only things I really savoured were gelato (Italian ice cream) and wine.

Regardless, the trip was a great success and I look back on it fondly.

A few months later I had my hip surgery, which turned out to be a success. I get around quite well without pain and can participate in many of the activities I enjoyed before.

There are times in my life and others where our taste for living doesn’t have the same gusto either. Often something has caused pain or we are masking our day-to-day existence with some activity or practice to help us forget.

I think of this sometimes when I encounter other people. Their actions or attitude may not be exactly what I would like to encounter. Rather than merely react in a negative way, I try to see if I can take away some of the pain or cause of the bitterness. Sometimes I succeed.

In a similar way, I hope that people realize that I may not act in the most appropriate way all of the time either.

Why is such an important question? I could have departed Italy thinking what people think about the food is grossly exaggerated. Knowing why I thought this helped me come to opinion that the problem wasn’t the food.

Asking why people behave the way they do and say what they say is equally important. Sometimes the answer is not so obvious, but it is worth a try.