strange currencies...

so this morning after being out and about running errands, i came home and unloaded a few grocery items from the car into their new and correct kitchen locations. tim, my new roommate who lives upstairs, was on his computer, stephanie, his wife and other new roommate who lives upstairs, was making homemade carrot-bran muffins.

as i was putting things away, we were joking how, their food... organic, healthy and locally produced, was very easy to identify from my food... processed, simple, and crap containing, in the fridge. we joked about it because before they moved in my fridge pretty much had, "pepsi and pudding," according to stephanie. this, sadly, is true.

as i was putting stuff away, i told stephanie that the main reason I always have such limited food in the fridge and around the house is because i have a huge fear and weak stomach when it comes to food going bad. (AND...cue the number of experiences i had as a child innocently opening what i thought was a butter tub containing butter, only to find "about to turn" stuffing from three weeks prior...insert gagging sounds...). this is also why i fear leftovers. in other words, if it's not in there, it can't go bad. therefore if i DO eat at home, which is rarely, i'll buy whatever i eat, fresh that day and fix it up, like a salad or some meat to grill, eat it and be done with it. very european of me.

stephanie then pointed out that with her knowledge of the food industry, as she's been a writer for a non-profit organization that deals with how food processing and the food industry work, that her feelings are the opposite. she has a huge fear and weak stomach when it comes to food that DOESN't go bad. her point was that if food doesn't go bad, (like a burrito tim left under the passenger seat in our friend burts' truck. the thing was there at least a month and when it was discovered, looked pristinely untouched, as if it was fresh from the kitchen.) it is overly processed with additives and preservatives and other unnatural stuff to keep it that way. thinking of that made me think of how dead bodies get embalmed. though the body is merely a shell, and when it's preserved, it's a shell that looks pretty frickin' great as it is prepared to go 6-feet under, but to preserve it in that state, or prevent it from decaying, essentially, is unnatural. yeah, i guess food shouldn't be like that.

i'm always learning new things; especially now that i have social issue-minded roommates. they know a lot about stuff like that. maybe i should pay attention, because chances are good that swiss miss and diet pepsi are going to fail me eventually.

man, you can't trust anyone, any more.

more to come...