ARFID or Picky Eating affects everyone differently.
One of the most notable differences between ARFID or Picky Eating is the difference in severity. As for me, I have a full list of safe foods, but for others, that list can be short and disheartening. It is also rare for two picky eaters to sit at the same table. I am not sure if it could be genetic, and from what I know, I do not think it is. Being the only picky eater in a family of eight siblings is one reason why I doubt it is genetic. My nephew and I share this particular eating trait. This post is a story of our exchange while at a restaurant in a Las Vegas Casino.
A story of two people with ARFID or Picky Eating.
One night while eating dinner with my nephew, who is a worse picky eater than I am, I ordered rice with my dish. He stated he did not eat rice, and I found myself in the seat where my friends were. What?
How could you not like rice? Try it? Just take a bite. Whoa!! It was easy to forget I am the same. The urgency to convince him just like they did me was strong.
Feeling sad for him, I just wanted him to take that bite and show me that look when you share the same meal.
It was easy for me to forget the anxiety of being a picky eater.
At that moment, I needed to hear him say, you are right. It is delicious, thank you. I stopped, took a step back, and almost immediately recognized both sides of the story. If it was easy for me, who suffers from ARFID, to forget and push, then it is just that easier for my friends who know nothing about it.
Being able to see it from both sides, one side being me and the other being my friends, has enabled me to understand.
What this exchange taught me.
I have become so good at handling my food awkwardness that it comes naturally at this point in my life. So natural that I even forgot and started to put pressure on my nephew. Learning this lesson is a blessing to me. A gift in that I am lucky to have experienced what others see. I also realized that I have never shared a meal with another pickier than I am until now. Recognizing this blessing is also a gift. It would have been easier to continue pressuring my nephew, but I stopped and learned from it instead.
I share more about how it feels for a picky eater like myself at a social gathering with non-picky eaters.
