So today DH and I went out to eat. We went out for Taiwanese Dim Sum. A different version of Hong Kong style dim sum. Which is a chinese style brunch with lots of little dishes. Very tasty.
Anyway, DH orders a dish called Chitlins and spareribs stewed. It comes out and he hates it. I personally was not about it eat it. So we took it home. The dish was $6. Before anyone else gags my DH adores tripe and we often eat it at HK dim sum. But this was um, different.
Anyway we get home this evening and I’m asking him if he wants it for lunch. He says no, throw it out. I ask again, but honestly this bugs me a lot. He still insists on throwing it out because he won’t eat it. And since I didn’t order it I won’t eat it either.
But the argument becomes, why did you order something to throw it away? And it’s not just the $6, but the wastefulness of throwing out food. It drives me insane. This is obviously something his parents taught him, that if you try something you don’t like, don’t eat it.
But in my family we just don’t order something we aren’t sure of instead of risking the possibility of wasting it. So it made me wonder, not just about food, but life.
We all take risks. Though some people are more obvious than others. In life, do we want a guaranteed return or are we willing to risk more for a greater return? Much like food, my DH is willing to throw food away for the opportunity of finding something he likes. He’s willing to risk not only $$, but going hungry if he doesn’t like the meal he’s ordered. While I, prefer a much safer return of ordering items I know I like and not risking hating something I order. Though I am consciously more picky about food and risk in general, I try to mitigate my risk if I do have to choose something unknown by sticking with “conservative” choices.
Which leads me to the conclusion there are two types of people. Those who take the calculated risk of the unknown, and those who prefer to stick to the lower return known. Which type are you?
For what it’s worth, yes it did piss me off throwing out the food. I doubt this will be the last time. And I’m not sure how we’ll raise our kid. Do we say “try it and if you hate it, spit it out and don’t eat it?” Or try it and tough luck you’ve ordered it?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Mom @ Wide Open Wallet // Apr 21, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I’m like you when it comes to risk, however I think you should let your kids experiment and not have heavy consequences if it doesn’t turn out well. That’s how they learn. I wouldn’t make my kid eat the food if they didn’t like it, but I wouldn’t order them something else either.
If you had never tried a new food you would still be eating formula or breastmilk for every meal.
2 jj // Apr 21, 2008 at 7:57 pm
The only way to discover great new foods is to try it. Yes, you sometimes lose money if you hate the food. But many times you discover something delicious! I hate ‘losing’ money too but most people have very limited food experiences and should be more daring with food.
3 Todd the Bod // Apr 22, 2008 at 5:15 am
If you don’t like wasting food than you eat it. Not everyone is like you. Sometimes it sounds like you treat your husband like a child.
4 Livingalmostlarge // Apr 22, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I feel whoever orders the food should eat it. I have ordered things I am unsure of and eaten it. It is up to the person. However I was forced as a child to eat what I ordered or starve.
Obviously Todd, you feel people should force on other people the foods they don’t like simply because some people hate waste. When I choose a meal I weigh whether it is worth the risk of not eating.
For my DH the risk is always worth it because I just throw away food he doesn’t like to eat, because I would have ordered it if I wanted, and I would have eaten it.
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