SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING – published week of April 20, 2015 in the Albert Lea Tribune

Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/

Do you remember your parents telling you to eat your vegetables? They might have said, “You will like it. You just need to try it.” Or they might have told you that you will learn to like the taste.

I didn’t buy that theory until recently. Scrolling through Facebook and reading the alternative health magazines, I have contemplated joining the cider vinegar, honey and lemon craze. When I have a sore throat or a cold, my mom’s go-to remedy was lemon, honey and hot water. It seemed to do the trick if I was coughing. I wasn’t quite sure about adding cider vinegar to the mix.

I have a friend who uses essential oils along with the vinegar, honey and lemon. She swears by the warm drink in the morning. I was going to try the drink too but have been too lazy to do the mix.

One day I was browsing the health food section of the grocery store, and I came upon an already mixed cider vinegar and honey drink. It appears that all that is in the drink is cider vinegar and honey. I decided to try it. How easy was that? I just had to pull the bottle out of the fridge and pour a little into my glass, no mixing needed.

I let the bottle of vinegar and honey cool off in the refrigerator before trying it. Later in the day I took out a glass and poured the drink into the glass, only using a fourth of the glass. I didn’t want to overdo it the first time by sloshing down an entire glass of the liquid. I took a sip. My lip curled. I made a face. Those watching asked me what was wrong. I answered, “Nothing.” I took another sip. This time I didn’t breathe thinking that would help with taste. It didn’t.

I put the bottle back in the refrigerator wondering if this was something I wanted to do. It was supposed to make me healthier. I persevered day after day. I would wrinkle my nose, hold my breath and drink the concoction. And then, something amazing happened.

After two weeks of holding my nose and breath and making funny faces while drinking the concoction, I took a drink one day and my brain immediately relayed to me, “Um that was good.” I checked the bottle to make sure I was drinking the same stuff. Yup, the bottle and the drink inside hadn’t changed but my taste buds must have.

I thought about all those vegetables I didn’t like in my childhood — Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli — that are now my favorite vegetables over the corn, the carrots and the peas. In fact, now I lean more toward those I didn’t like and forgo those that I used to eat in my childhood.

Do our taste buds just adapt or do our bodies change, or what? I did some searching but didn’t come up with any scientific theory. I am sure there is one out there but I don’t hang out on the websites that actually teach you something of value. You know I am the fun and fluff person.

Why should it surprise me that something I thought was terrible actually became something good in my life? It happens all the time. It also happens with people. We form an impression and that impression stays with us. Our impression of someone might be formed by someone else’s observations or something we observe in a split moment. Because of that we don’t take the time to delve deeper and we write people off and out of our lives. Perhaps if we took a little time to try the flavor of a person’s personality we might actually like the taste.

Remember Mikey from the Life cereal commercials? “Try it, you might like it.” He was referring to cereal. Beyond liking my vinegar and honey, I have tasted friendships with people I might have turned away from after the first impression if I wouldn’t have taken another taste of their friendship. I might have missed the flavor in their personalities and how those flavors have enriched my life. So remember: try it, you might like it.

“Variety’s the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor.” — William Cowper