Right at this moment I am eating, although I shouldn’t be, a bag of potato chips. I had told myself that I needed to cut back on my carbs. And. I have been doing a relatively good job of avoiding potato chips as those are my biggest weakness.  But alas, I am hungry and am waiting for a colleague to arrive and my head is dizzy and fuzzy.  And before you note I could have eaten a piece of fruit, do note that I did. I ate two oranges and I am still starving. I worked out for 32 minutes and had two cups of coffee.   Alas, that is not what I am set to write about here today.   I am OK with my bag of chips. Although, I shouldn’t be.  Moving on.

Back to the chips. They are super crunchy and yummy.   Yet, I want to take them and shove them down someone’s throat. Too violent and angry? Perhaps. But if you knew the full story you would agree.
See this bag of chips is from a restaurant that I have never had a problem with till now.  I like the eatery. Its not fantastic but it will do in most pinches. Except that, I now know someone who loves that restaurant and I cannot stand this person. I won’t say I hate this person because I really try to not hate.  No real good can come from hating someone.  And I am not trying to sound morally superior. Because obviously, by my just displayed bit of anger, I am not.   It is just that hate just infects your own heart and why should that be?  But back to the chips.

I want to enjoy this crunchy bag of chips. But I just cannot. I look at the bag and think “yuck” because I see this horrible person’s face. Have you ever heard of the Garcia effect?   I have endured it quite often in my life as I tend to get food poisoning once a year.   The Garcia effect specifically refers to a taste aversion that develops to a smell or taste of food that was eaten before getting sick.  We have all been through such an aversion. Well, now I have a similar Garcia effect in relation to this bag of chips and this individual.  But I believe that I am not alone in such a feeling of aversion. There must be countless others in similar situations.   Everything gets associated with someone else in some way, shape, or form.

I really want to like these chips but I have decided to stop and pass them on to someone else. It is a form of ‘harm reduction in that I decrease my caloric intake and that I don’t have to suffer through the psychological effects of eating something that reminds me of a dodo.   Although, dodos did go extinct and hopefully so will that particular aversion of mine. Here is to moving on to a whole new bag of chips.