Apples and Peanut Butter

She smeared, I winced.

I watched Simone as she prepared her afterschool snack. She had already sliced the apple into bite-sized portions and was now patiently spreading peanut butter onto each piece.

“It’s good,” she said, before I could ask.

“Want some?”

If I were gastronomically adventurous, I may have tried it. But since it takes no less than an act of Congress to get me to taste something new, I declined the offer.

I’m not sure how I got to be such a picky eater. Sometimes I wish that I weren’t. People seem to really love food. They talk about it, watch TV shows dedicated to it, and often salivate at the mere mention of their favorite dish. The near-orgasmic reaction that I’ve seen people have at restaurants has always puzzled me, since I’ve never had that kind of emotional response to a meal.

Maybe I suffer from some sort of taste bud deficiency.

I share this anecdote to illustrate that what we like, or don’t like, can’t really be influenced by others. So it’s really kind of nutty when people get into disagreements over matters of taste.

As inflexible as I am when it comes to food, in matters of the mind, I’m quite the opposite.

I try to be an empathic listener because it’s important to focus on what a person is actually saying, rather than trying to think of a response as they are expressing their views. We’ve all had the experience of watching two people argue with neither hearing what the other has to say. Detached from the situation, we look upon the participants as foolish, even though we’ve been in this situation ourselves and behaved in much the same way. We don’t want to admit it, but it’s a common scenario – especially when emotions are running high.

This detached sensation is how I felt while I listened to what was being said at the Tea Party convention in Nashville. I needn’t list all of the hyperbolic quotes emanating from this venue, as you’ve probably heard them already.

Okay, maybe just one.

Nashville, Tennessee (CNN) – Tom Tancredo opened what’s being billed as the first Tea Party Convention with a bang.

The former congressman from Colorado and 2008 Republican presidential candidate blasted President Obama, saying “people who could not even spell the word ‘vote’, or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama.”

Hm.  Interesting view of the electorate.

What I have been able to gather, from listening to the rhetoric, is that the principal theme of this gathering seems to be that they want to take “their country” back.

I say, let them have their say. Give them plenty of the air time. Give them a sympathetic ear. Perhaps they just want to feel that they are being heard. It’s clear that they are hurting.

I Googled “apples and peanut butter” and found that many people actually do enjoy this combination. I did not know that.

I Googled “America” and can confirm that it is still “our country” too, no matter what they say in Nashville this week. I did know that.

Tagged as: committed socialist ideologue, convention, nashville, President Obama, raycolon, take our country back, tea bagger, Tom Tancredo

Author Bio:

Ray Colon has written 136 posts on Ray's Blog.

He works with numbers for a living, but don't judge - boring accountants need love too. His blog has no niche (unless writing about things that are important to him is a niche). Some folks cringe when he gets “all political” on them, but he does it anyway when he's in that kind of mood. Sometimes, he writes something nice about someone, but you shouldn't get used to that. His first book, the one he hasn't written yet, is not available on Amazon. Subscribe to Ray's Blog via RSS  or Email.

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