BALONEY!

Tokyo moon

Kelimutu is a volcano, close to the small town of Moni in central Flores island in Indonesia. The mountain has three volcanic crater lakes that differ in color. The science of the Kelimutu lakes is relatively well-known. Lake colors periodically change due to adjustments in the oxidation-reduction status of the fluid of each lake, and also considering the abundance of different major elements, such as iron and manganese. (Source)

If I ask if a food is spicy at all, and you reply “No, not at all! You can barely feel it!” then that is a contradiction. It is spicy. It may not be very spicy, or even moderately spicy, but it’s still spicy. Please just tell me that straight-out.

I know there’s a good chance you’re mocking me in your head when I say that I cannot handle spices at all, and that even the mildest of sauces, that you insist are barely there, are going to hurt, because I’m mocking me too. I know I’ve got a child’s palate when it comes to spicy food. I know it’s almost laughable, how badly I react to even table pepper in more than the most minuscule of doses.

But if I ask “is this spicy,” and you answer “not at all,” and then proceed to tell me that it’s mild, then I will still consider it too spicy.

If I ask “is this spicy at all” and you say “no” while knowing that it is, just a tiny bit, because you can’t imagine anyone reacting, then please don’t be offended when I take one bite and then throw it out, because I asked for a reason.

It’s a dumb thing to talk about, but… yeah. Just do your cannot-handle-spices friends a favor and be honest when they ask. Mild is still a level of spice.

Food doesn’t taste the same to everyone. There are scientific reasons that some people might be able to tolerate ‘mild’ spice and others might not. If someone tells you they are sensitive to spice, that doesn’t mean they’re experiencing what you experience when you eat those foods. It means that for them, it feels far different. It hurts. 

My partner is super sensitive to spice. She calls herself a ‘spice wimp,’ which I hate, because there’s nothing wimpy about not wanting to suffer through horrible burning sensations in your mouth. Which is what she has to suffer, when someone tells her something “isn’t that spicy” when in fact it is. 

This isn’t about flexing.This isn’t about being tough. This is about acknowledging that the chemical and anatomical composition of someone else’s taste receptors is different than yours, and you need to be sensitive to that. 

I’ve learned to detect even the smallest amount of spice, so I can tell her if something is probably safe for her to eat or not. I’ve learned that the tiniest burning sensation to me means something is going to cause her physical pain. I’ve gotten better at identifying which foods will be okay and which will not. And you know what? I’m able to do it without being a dick about it. It has nothing to do with who’s’ tough and who’s a wimp and everything to do with the fact that her nerves process spice differently than mine do. 

I do actually really like spicy food! it tastes great and I’m much more willing to experiment around with spicy foods than I’ve been as a picky kid.

but the issue here is:

my body doesn’t like it.

my digestive system is pretty bad at the best of times, and it gets even worse when I eat spicy food.

just cause someone can EAT spicy food doesn’t mean that their stomach and intestines are gonna thank them later.