Steak & Raisins

Steak and raisins...what could these two possibly have in common to warrant inclusion in the same sentence?

Childhood.

I despised steak and raisins in my youth. And I still despise raisins to this day.

Steak

It was the summer before 3rd grade at a winter camp with my family. The main dinner item on the menu: steak. So, without other choices, I decided to stand in the line headed out to the BBQ pit for the grilled steaks. When my turn came, a piece of charred meat was slapped onto my plate. It was well-done. My mom had to cut the steak for me, and I distinctly remember saying to myself: I will never eat steak again. This piece of charred meat does not even compare to juicy burger patties (my favorite was the whopper) or any other meat I had eaten up to that point in my life.

This all changed when I took a trip to Sizzlers in 8th grade with my family. Remember, for 6 years I had refused to eat steak as the thought of it disgusted me. I decided to give it another shot, and ordered the sizzler steak and grilled shrimp combo. Changed my life. I remember biting into the juicy (at that time) medium steak and supplementing it with succulent shrimp and bbq sauce. From that point forward Sizzler's has always had a special place in my heart, and I love to eat steak.

Raisins

Recently I've been getting a lot of flak for not eat raisins. Whether in cereal, yogurt, bread, dessert...I just despise raisins. Even after learning they were dried grapes (I love grapes), it had no effect...the thought of raisins makes me cringe. So why?

In elementary school I always looked forward to Halloween. The one day I get to stock pile candy and eat for the next 2 months. All the snickers, reeses, milk ways, butterfingers, baby ruths, sugar babies, etc etc I could eat. Whenever I came upon Almond Joys or candy corn, any smile I had vanished. And whenever I came across a small red box of Sun-maid raisins I became infuriated. I want candy, not these weird little thingies! And for weird reason, to this day I hate raisins. Sometimes I will randomly eat them, and say to myself...they don't taste bad at all. But when I remember it's a raisin I spit it out. Strange. Perfect example: My former co-worker brought me a delicious medley of dried pineapple, chocolate, almonds, peanuts, cashews, and ....After eating a handful, I spit out the little dried fruits because I believed they were raisins. They turned out to be dried blueberries! After realizing this, I ate the delicious mix freely.

I never thought it strange to dislike raisins until recently. Just shows the influence of perception on our everyday lives.

We all have strange childhood memories that have faded or continue to affect us to the present.

Chaotic organization.