Amusing Stories of the Pickiest Eaters

I am constantly baffled and amused by the pickiest of picky eaters. I'm not talking about your garden-variety picky eater, but the extreme, "I don't even look at anything that's not on my approved list of four acceptable food items."

Here is a story, name obscured to protect the innocent:

Today, I bought some pizzas for a group in my office. I did an informal poll to see what people's preferences were and how many people were observing a meatless Friday. We have one super picky eater, I'll call him PE. PE requested cheese only. "I only eat cheese pizza and only from certain places." Fortunately, the place I ordered from was on his approved list. I got a cheese pizza, a veggie, and a "supreme" (bunch of stuff).

PE looked at the supreme pizza on the table and announced, "Just so everyone knows, there's anchovy's on this one!"
Me: "No, there's not."
PE: "Yes there is. Those black, round things."
Me: "Those are olives."
PE: "Whatever. I don't know the difference."
Me: "You really don't know the difference between an olive and an anchovy?"
PE: "I just know that both of them are something that I don't eat."
Me: "You do realize that one grows on a tree and one lives underwater, right?"
PE: "Who cares?"

This is the same guy who once walked three blocks back to a McDonald's to return a plain hamburger because it had a pickle slice on it and he specifically requested "plain". "A pickle touched it. I wont't eat it. I'll walk back and they'll re-make it for me."

I always wonder if people like that ever hear themselves saying this stuff and have it dawn on them, "wait a minute, I'm a grown man, I shouldn't be acting like this."

i have a couple of people like that in my family. but one is five years old and the other is two.

teatpuller wrote:i have a couple of people like that in my family. but one is five years old and the other is two.

The person in my story is an adult with a college degree. I should have said that I'm most interested and amused by adult picky eaters.

eatchicago wrote:
The person in my story is an adult with a college degree.

interesting thread, i know people like this person, i dont understand them either.

just curious what does a college degree have to do with this person being a picky eater or not.

i have a couple of people like that in my family. but one is five years old and the other is two.

Keep working at it. We worked very hard to bribe our kids into at least trying everything, otherwise they would have eaten mac & cheese and chicken nuggets at every meal, as my niece and nephew did (and pretty much still do). Our kids have grown into very adventurous eaters.

jimswside wrote:just curious what does a college degree have to do with this person being a picky eater or not.

Seems just a data point to fill in Michael's story.

My sister in-law is the pick of the picky eaters, fried rice and egg roll, only, at two selected Chinese restaurants, nothing green, only protein that walks and, most egregious of all, she will not eat my BBQ ribs without drenching them in Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

Recently met a male adult who, when the conversation turned to restaurants, as it often does with me, asked if I had ever been to Chinatown. He seemed stunned when I said, "yes, often" and gave me the same look I might give someone who said they spent a week in a Marrakesh brothel smoking opium and sampling the wares. He then said, and this blew my mind, "but its so dirty"

My wife contends my eyes turned bright red as I said, in a raised voice, "everyplace in an 8-block area of the city is dirty"? The conversation started going downhill fast, but it was a social situation and my wife was turning my shin black and blue under the table, so I simply gave him a few recommendations he will never follow and unclenched my fists.

Enjoy,
Gary

jimswside wrote:just curious what does a college degree have to do with this person being a picky eater or not.

I was just trying to illustrate the vast difference between this person and a 2-year-old. I am casting no aspersions to people without a degree. Could just have easily have said, "This person is an adult male with a mortgage and a wife."

Although, I do think that if you managed to complete four years at an accredited university, you should be able to identify an olive by sight.

I completely do not understand picky eaters. I understand it when someone says they don't like a food. I understand it when someone prefers one food to another. I don't understand why someone refuses to eat something they don't like. Do they think it will hurt them?

turkob wrote:I completely do not understand picky eaters. I understand it when someone says they don't like a food. I understand it when someone prefers one food to another. I don't understand why someone refuses to eat something they don't like. Do they think it will hurt them?

I actually have a burning hatred of them, which is detrimental to my own mental health. I realize I have "issues" and I am trying to work through them.

eatchicago wrote:

teatpuller wrote:i have a couple of people like that in my family. but one is five years old and the other is two.

The person in my story is an adult with a college degree. I should have said that I'm most interested and amused by adult picky eaters.

You've met The Chow Poodle. Need I say more?

You know -- this guy sounds like he has more than "picky eater" issues. Perhaps it's some sort of OCD instead of just being childish behavior. Maybe we should pity him instead of revile him -- he'll never know the joy we do.

That said, I have my own food issues. But I periodically try things I loathe just to see if my opinion has changed.

And I can definitely identify an olive over an anchovy.

eatchicago wrote:I am constantly baffled and amused by the pickiest of picky eaters.

I admire that your response to them is so calm and detached, because even just reading about the guy in your story ticks me off.

And I understand the rage that some feel, although I don't quite go to that level myself. So why should picky eaters irritate us so?

One answer is that they're not just hurting themselves in their myopia, they're making life a pain in the ass for everybody else, with subtextual messages like "you're untrustworthy because you failed in your commitment to bring me a plain cheese pizza," or "I have no regard for your time, because now I'm going to hold you up while I make you go back to McDonald's with me to return this burger." But that still doesn't totally account for it.

I have heard armchair psychologists suggest that absurdly picky eating phenomenon has little to do with actual eating and everything to do with finding an outlet to assert control -- that it's more indicative of an insecure personality than troubled tastebuds. Not to suggest that this is in any way a universal explanation for overly picky eaters. But when you mention going waaaay out of his way to return a burger that touched a pickle rather than simply removing the pickle, it's an explanation that certainly springs to mind.

Dmnkly wrote:I have heard armchair psychologists suggest that absurdly picky eating phenomenon has little to do with actual eating and everything to do with finding an outlet to assert control -- that it's more indicative of an insecure personality than troubled tastebuds. Not to suggest that this is in any way a universal explanation for overly picky eaters. But when you mention going waaaay out of his way to return a burger that touched a pickle rather than simply removing the pickle, it's an explanation that certainly springs to mind.

obviously the correct way to deal with these people is to ignore them. however, i fantasize about tying them up and shoving sushi in their mouths.

teatpuller wrote:i fantasize about tying them up and shoving sushi in their mouths.

I knew I liked you for some reason. Now it all makes sense.

I don't understand why someone refuses to eat something they don't like. Do they think it will hurt them?

In some instances, yes. My father has strong negative associations with certain foods from his childhood & I'd seen him refuse to eat certain things, as well as walk out of a restaurant once when he realized the establishment specialized in certain of these dishes & as a result smelled strongly of them. In his instance its less about the food hurting, than the extremely unpleasant memories the smell (in particular) & taste of certain foods evoke. Not every one's fortunate enough to have pleasant food associated memories a la Proust. However, I'm sure that's a rare exception, than the general rule.

I have some issues myself, with foods I don't like - they make me throw up if I force myself to eat them. My doc thinks its my body's subconscious way of coping with something I've had a bad experience with before & its decided it isn't going to risk it again (typically its things that I've had mild cases of food poisoning or allergic reactions to in the past). So yes, apparently my body does think its going to hurt me & the "dislike" is a coping mechanism.

My bigger gripe is with someone refusing to even try something in the first place because they've already pre-decided they aren't going to like it. How can you tell unless you try at least one mouthful?

I don't mind the picky eater. I mind the picky eater who makes horrible faces and sounds when a food he/she doesn't like is mentioned.

I know its not p.c., but I have about as much patience for folks who restrict their diet for other various reasons as I do for/with picky eaters.

eg.

"I dont eat pork because of xyz"
etc.

leek wrote:I don't mind the picky eater. I mind the picky eater who makes horrible faces and sounds when a food he/she doesn't like is mentioned.

Exactly my thoughts. I know plenty of picky eaters, but most (if not all) of them avoid throwing it in other people's faces. They deal, and everyone peacefully coexists.

jimswside wrote:I know its not p.c., but I have about as much patience for folks who restrict their diet for other various reasons as I do for/with picky eaters.

eg.

"I dont eat pork because of xyz"

Well, you may not agree with it but I don't see why you shouldn't respect it. "xyz" is important for a lot of people. In the end, it's their loss...and more pork for the rest of us

jesteinf wrote: In the end, it's their loss...and more pork for the rest of us

that I can agree with. I guess the same can go for picky eaters, what they refuse to eat i gladly will.

In my experience, I've had no problems with folks who say, "I keep kosher, so I don't eat shellfish", "I'm Muslim, so no pork for me", "I'm allergic to nuts, so I stay away from them", etc. because they tend not to make faces or "eww" at the stuff they don't eat. They have their reasons for not eating stuff, and do so in a generally dignified manner.

The few picky eaters I know, on the other hand, tend to make a big show of it..."Eww gross, I don't eat olives. YUCK! Keep those olives away from me! Hey, everyone pay attention to me, I've never had olives but I HATE them!" That drives me nuts.

My ex-husband was like this. All he would eat was fried chicken, pepperoni pizza, plain burgers, and baloney sandwiches, washed down with either black coffee or Coke. Oh, and Doritos. Absolutely all other foods were suspect. Given my love for eating out, I was not terribly pleased to be in this restaurant wonderland with someone who would not eat anything that didn't come from a fast food joint. We literally did not go out to eat but one time, and that was to Leona's.

It wasn't the deciding factor in the breakup of the marriage, but damn if I didn't make sure I hooked up with someone who appreciates food for the next time!

Santander wrote:

teatpuller wrote:i fantasize about tying them up and shoving sushi in their mouths.

I knew I liked you for some reason. Now it all makes sense.

*ponders Rule 34.

californiarolled.com ?
torotorotoro.com ?
ohnomakimono.com ?
showyoutheshoyu.com ?
bentoboxinghelena.com ?

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:SNIP... but damn if I didn't make sure I hooked up with someone who appreciates food for the next time!

That's one of the many things I love about Fifille:) Thanks, LTH Potluck picnic for providing the meeting place!!

I don't mind people not eating food they don't like. My question is why don't they like some of the foods they don't like? Or how come they don't like so many things. Everyone is entitled to food preferences. But not to eat a hamburger because it touched a pickle slice is a bit much. Not to eat pig's feet or brains, well I can see that.

leek wrote:I don't mind the picky eater. I mind the picky eater who makes horrible faces and sounds when a food he/she doesn't like is mentioned.

And the one who, by virtue of their pickiness, must control all choice of restaurants, to be sure there will be "something" they can eat...

that control freak/attention ho theory sounds pretty accurate to me

I also have issue with the " I hate mushrooms", but something made with mushroom soup, no problem....

nicinchic wrote:I also have issue with the " I hate mushrooms", but something made with mushroom soup, no problem....

I've also found that deep frying often tames their objections.