O our taste buds!

Saw little Abigail chewing her piece of bread during class that day- it looked so tasty, so sweet and like she’s enjoying every single bite of it. But it was only plain white bread she was chewing. It made me start wondering how and when did our taste buds change as we grow up?

The training of mental faculties happened in school, we progressed from elementary arithmetic to advance algebra as the teachers worked with us through classes and homework. The moulding of our character was fundamentally a factor of our parent’s love and discipline, peer influence, and the environment we were in. Our fashion sense changed with the times and were dictated by the fashion moguls like Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Versace.

But our taste buds… Who told us what is to like and what not to? Mummy can tell us not to eat the unhealthy chips but she cannot tell us not to like its taste. Grandma can tell little boys to eat their veggies, but she cannot stop them from thinking it taste like poison.

How did our taste buds morph (or degenerate?!) from finding white bread tasteless, and find only ‘atas’ bread from Provence palatable? How did it stop finding satisfaction in Cadbury, and considers only Godiva or its likes worthy chocolate? How did our taste buds become fickle to our “favorite” kind of chips- switching from Sour Cream Pringles to Original Lays to Cheddar Ruffles to Honey Dijon Kettle Chips within a year; and yet at the same stayed faithful to the old-fashioned vanilla ice-cream we had since we’re five? O our taste buds! You're an enigma :p

I have no answer for these musings- nor would I attempt to objectify something so subjective- especially since everyone’s taste is different, and each man is rightfully entitled to his own. As Xun always says “One man’s meat is another man’s poison”. The mystery also gives me room to insist that “my taste has changed” when I don feel like eating something some day. :p

But one moment of truth I’d throw to those with expensive taste buds though- is to remember what we used to like & find satisfying in the old days, and not become too far from returning to them some day. Do not become a victim of your own taste buds. Do not fall prey to restaurant operators who deepen the rich-poor divide subconsciously based on the food we eat- they are but after our pockets. Do not feel “high class” simply because you ate at a “high class” restaurant.

And remember- while we are choosing today the type of grains we would like in our Q Q Rice Balls, there are those who do not even have that spoonful of rice they require to live that day.