Food is enjoyable and should be enjoyed, even if there is a quirk mixed into it. Preferences in food are very human and very normal. And so preparing a dish the way you want them should be a non-issue regardless of whether you’re the one prepping it, or asking someone else to do it.
Yet, there’s also a non-zero chance that the person preparing the food for you will not understand why you like the food this way and will proceed to do the opposite, making the situation spiral into chaos.
Everyone has food preferences and that’s cool. What’s not cool, however, is disregarding those preferences
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A woman shared how her now ex boyfriend refused to make noodles how she wanted and how that spiraled out of control
Image credits: Avery Arwood / pexels (not the actual photo)
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The woman also gave a bit of an update following the initial posting of the story on Reddit
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Image credits: missmiles11
And what began as a simple argument over noodles turned into a spiral of confessions ending the relationship
Some time ago, Redditor missmiles11 shared how her dad always prepared noodles differently for her—he would rinse off the sauce afterwards, giving it an essence of tomato. The sauce itself felt overwhelming.
Well, long story short, her boyfriend never did it—though it seemed like he did for over a year—but one day he started adding salt (well, sarcasm) into the mix, as if to mock this food preference, because he saw how she never noticed the difference.
The relationship ended soon after since this foody argument also led to confessions of cheating, lying and other red flags.
And, well, the Reddit community saw a lot of red flags. On the one hand, they thought OP was acting like a toddler by being upset about rinsing noodles, while the ex also got flak for acting predatory. This is besides the concept of wasting food, being abusive and the like.
In general, the community was either saying that OP is in the wrong, or that both her and the ex sucked.
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For context, having food quirks aren’t bad—as long as they don’t turn into a bigger problem
As stated above, food is enjoyable and should be enjoyed the way you want it. However, there is a bit of a dangerous line to cross when a quirk turns into an obsession or anything, really, that starts causing more problems than it solves.
Body Image Educator and Self Esteem Coach Anastasia Amour discussed this by sharing one of her own food quirks—she could never finish a meal or a drink or anything. And she never liked when her rice was mixed with other foods.
Doesn’t sound all that problematic, but imagine what happened when once the waiter brought her rice already premixed with curry. And that was after her recovery from her challenges with food. That still sent chills down her spine.
Her food quirks had turned from eccentricities to patterns of fear and anxiety that stigmatized eating and led to ritualistic eating behaviors. And if you’re familiar with the concept of anxiety, you’ll know what a downward spiral that is.
However, not all food quirks are harmful, and even more so if you can manage the effects they have on food insecurities and anxieties. In such a case, enjoy your food however you want.
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