Single-minded eating (Taiwan/London)

It was something first pointed out by Pete the Conoco geologist (see blog entry Ten dollar) when we were eating a (Taiwanese adapted) Western meal in Taipei.  (I say “adapted” because the menu said “fried chicken in a basket with chips” but the “chips” were American chips, i.e., potato crisps, which one eats as a snack, not with fried chicken as a main course.  And certainly not with a knife and fork, as they just shatter like crispy bacon and fly all over the place.)

Anyway, there I was, tackling the meal which comprised the fried chicken, the so-called chips, and 2 other vegetables (usually boiled peas and carrots).  Pete then made the observation that I was only plugging away at the peas: “Why are you not eating the chicken?”  I’d say, “Oh yes, I’d forgotten about the chicken,” and start tucking into the chicken.  Then Pete would say, “But, now you’re ignoring the carrots,” and I’d go, “Oh, right,” and start on the carrots.

Just the other day, some 37 years later, eating a shepherd’s pie (with 3 vegs and potatoes), I noticed I was still doing the same thing:  I’d start eating the peas and the peas and the peas and the peas, forgetting about the carrots, the potatoes, the cabbage and the shepherd’s pie.  When I noticed this, I’d then switch to, say, the carrots, and forget the peas, the cabbage, the potatoes and the shepherd’s pie.

(Taiwan 1976, London 2012)