Hot Sauce

I was standing at the counter at Tasty Taco, a local taco joint in Des Moines.  A lady was called up to pick up her food and she told the Tasty Taco employee that she would be needing some “Really Hot, Hot Sauce”.  She was pretty confident that the normal “hot sauce” that is passed out to the thousands who walk through the doors each day just wouldn’t cut it.  She was special.  She was going to need the military grade hot sauce.  She seemed to take pride in her insistence that she’d need special sauce.

I get that some people just honestly like hot food, but what is it about “hot” stuff that make people brag to a great extent about their ability to eat something “hotter” than normal.  People who love to eat hot things seem to love to brag about how they can handle anything.  They also love to point out what is not “hot” to them.

“You think that’s hot??!  Come on!  I’ve eaten MUCH hotter!”  

“Do you have any hot sauce that I can put on this hot sauce?”

“Is there any way that you could actually set this food on fire once I put it in my mouth?”

The reverse of this spicy argument isn’t the same.  No one ever brags about their ability to eat bland foods.  No one ever says, “You think this is bland?  No way, I’ve had much more bland foods before.” Other types of foods don’t draw the same type of pride.  No one ever brags about tolerating more salt or butter than the next person.  Cinnamon generally never make it into this discussion.

People do like to talk about their relationship with food, don’t they?  I can’t go week without hearing someone say something about what they can or can’t “tolerate”.  Below are a few thoughts related to our relationship with food...

Top Ten Food Comments That You’d Rather Not Hear:

10.  “I can’t have caffeine after 9am or I’ll be awake all night!”  

  9.  “Oh, No.  I’ll pass on the cheese...it really messes with my system.”

  8.  “This sandwich needs more Mayo...It can’t get enough mayo...I eat it on everything!”

  7.  “If I have one bite of bread, my toes will start to itch.”

  6.  “Really?  You can only eat 6 donuts?  I can put down a full baker’s dozen!”

  5.  “If I eat seeds of any kind, I’ll be out of commission for a week!”

  4.  “I could drink acid, before I would dare eat any type of lettuce!”

  3.  “A lot of people can’t handle beans, but I eat ‘em all day long and I’m just fine.”

  2.  “Oh, I can’t have carbs...I’ll blow up like a parade balloon.”

and the Number One Food Comment That You’d Rather Not Hear is...

“I’ll pass on the ice cream...I’d rather not spend my whole weekend in the bathroom!”

Thanks for reading.  Hope you have a great week without any food episodes.

JJ

-By the way, "Tasty Taco" is the best around.  If you are near Des Moines, Its worth the trip.