Tomato 

 Tomatoes, you know the big red round sort of squishy vegetable that tomato. Well, I hate that vegetable and I mean really hate that vegetable. Now you may think “Roman what did a tomato do to you?” and to be really honest with you all…Nothing. It did nothing, but the taste was horrible. It tasted so horrible it altered a good portion of my views in life and how I see different types of foods or even things that aren't even food. For you to understand the severity of it all, I have to go back years ago when I was a little boy. I was around the age 5 to 6 when my mother took me and my little sister to a McDonalds that was near the apartment we used to live in. Of course if we weren’t coming for the food, it was definitely for the playground area. At the time, the McDonald's playground area was huge in my eyes and to be honest in any small child's eyes. Huge with many slides, tunnels, tall parts to climb up and get stuck on, and a microphone I use to yell random words in. Nowadays McDonald's doesn’t serve salads, but when I was little they did and while I was off playing my mom went off to order us food and then she came back with fries and salad for me and my sister. When she came back with the salad, I just got down racing and running around with the other kids in the playground. After being sadly told to come eat after a heated race with another kid, I was surprisingly thrilled to eat a salad. Usually kids my age hated their vegetables, but I loved any and all types of foods.

 After settling my sister and me down, my mom handed me my salad first like she usually does because she knew I would eat my fries and nuggets first and get full off that alone. When opening the salad container and through all the green lettuce I saw a tomato and for some odd reason for the first time I didn’t want to eat it. I immediately took it out and placed it on the lid thinking it was cool since I can just eat the rest of the salad without problems, but my mom was a stickler about wasting any type of food. What does she do? She decided to help me eat it, stopping me from eating the rest of the salad and trying softly, politely, and any gentle way to coax me into eating it, but I was stubborn and relentless (which I still am to this day). It was all fun and game till she tricked me by tickling my stomach and then popping it into my mouth as I took about three chews and almost instantly threw it back up. The throw up part wasn’t as bad, but I did see my breakfast and tomato chunks. My mom quickly rushed me to the bathroom, cleaning me off. As I was crying, she apologized for making me eat it against my will which I quickly accepted after eating my fries, nuggets, and getting to play a little longer than usual. It’s odd because after that day I became less adventurous in my food palate and it was pretty clear what I avoided and what I didn’t avoid. For example I never liked raw broccoli, cauliflower, squash, and a whole bunch of other raw vegetables. It kind of also expanded into my views on life a little. I thought for a while playing it safe meant not going too far or out of your comfort zone and that trying new options usually doesn't turn out so good. It’s crazy, isn’t it ? One bad experience is all it takes with something or someone to potentially change your whole mindset and personality. Now do I place blame on a single tomato for all those other problems? No, not particularly since the other problems are related to other personal problems, but I do still blame all tomatoes!

 However, not all experiences are bad and even sometimes they can change my own
perspective of the experienced. Fast forward about 12 to 13 years, I just turned 18 years old and I was still in high school with a girlfriend in college. I visited every now and then during my week and every time we ate pizza, but not any type of pizza…a pizza with mushrooms. I never tried mushrooms but the sight of it was enough to encourage me to never eat any. Every time we bought the pizza, I took off all the mushroom pieces and placed it on her slice. She knew I was picky with my food, but she kept telling me that they taste like nothing or it tastes like chewy meat. I would usually just keep refusing, but I decided to get a little adventurous so I took a small bite of the pizza…then took another bite and to my surprise it actually tasted good. 

 That day kind of changed my perspective on food and a little on life. It doesn’t hurt to try new foods or leave your comfort zone from time to time. As long as you think you’re ready, it won’t feel as uncomfortable as you think, but even with all that I still won’t eat a tomato by itself or ever.