My own social transactions

I would say that I am a food lover, but that is so overused now. If anything defines what I really am, it is this:


I am a food nerd.

I am constantly asking myself asking questions like: where does parsley come from and why is it a garnish? (Parsley became a thing when butchers used it in the eighteen hundreds as a color contrast to the red meats in their window cases. Restaurants sort of caught on and just made it a thing after that. It's actually considered a flavor component, everywhere else but here.)

Some of my friends initiate this in me. Some of my friends enjoy this little quirk of mine. Some of my friends want to learn these things from me and others just tolerate this piece of me that is an obsession -- that has completely taken over my essential nature. My roommate has recently compared me to "Bubba" from the movie "Forest Gump" when I would not stop talking about alligator gumbo. And alligator gumbo potpies. And just about all the things you can do with an alligator gumbo.

The ones that don't understand, or the ones that think they do, have NO IDEA that I remember making a roux before I learned how to tie my shoes. My "Grumpy" literally handed me a wooden spoon and showed me how to heat up the fat, add flour and cook the flour to make gravy. Making the gravy has always been my favorite. I like my gravy chunky, with hearts and livers and all the other offal things you aren't supposed to see your mom pull out of a dead bird. I learned how to make a fire to cook over before I was even tall enough to wield the "fire poker" (a giant stick my dad would bring in from the woods). My mom and I have competed in dutch oven contests in the fair (and won in two categories, if i do brag about that, myself).


I will always be willing to spend more money on food than I do on any luxury or other necessity, other than rent (probably), in my life. That is how I prioritize my happiness. I show my affection in my food. I love people with food. I don't I don't know how to not feed people. I also don't know how to spout off all the random things I know or desire to know about food.


Knowing these things about myself, I wonder what do other people obsess over? How does it effect your interactions?