I like black coffee, pickles, and rabbit food.
“This,” my roommate informed me, “means you are one of the un-tasters, according to my Biology professor.” According to her professor, we are born with taste bud genes. People who like pickles for example, do not have the genetic make- up to taste how bitter the chemicals are, therefore they like the taste.
“I am a taster.” she said. “So me being picky… really isn’t my fault. Its in my genetics!”
And then I think about if this carries over to other things as well. Maybe some people genetically feel less bitter as well.
A close friend of mine has recently been very unhappy. About everything. Life. Grades. Love. Family. Its as if there is always this very unhappy undertone to everything. Sunday morning we sat together on her couch curled up, talking about life. And she sighed, and told me she was unhappy and she didn’t know why. As a fear tears wriggled past her floodwalls, she asked me how to be happy. “What makes a person happy?” She asked.
I paused, waiting for some profound insight or inspirational thought to just roll off my tongue….
“I do things that make me happy… ” she continued.
Crickets chirped in the empty closet of my mind.
And all I could think of was how happy I was to not be the unhappy one.
“Happiness doesn’t come from things you do,” I finally managed. “Its a state of mind. Its how you perceive things. Its not something that just comes from a moment or an activity. Its just there….”
I can’t taste bitterness. I feel this is a very lucky thing.
