what it says on the tin

You've probably heard a little about what was brought over from the New World, corn, potatoes, cocoa, cassava, peanuts, chili peppers, avocadoes, cranberries, pumpkins, and the like. Imagine cooking without chili! Without potatoes! Modern Indian cuisine contains enormous amounts of potatoes and we just didn't have those for the vast majority of history. The best of the nightshades all on one contiguous hunk of land. Hell, tomatoes! Almost forgot about those.

But we don't often look at what the Old World had. Wheat! Barley! Rice! A profusion of incredible grains, really, the finest poaceae has to offer. Carrots! Tons of rosaceous plants like apples and cherries and pears and peaches and apricots! Grapes! Soy and Bamboo! Okra and watermelon! All these things were simply never found in the Americas. The grains one is the wildest for me, the variety of grains available across Eurasia and Africa was truly astounding.

Instead of "Everyone else liked this thing but I hated it. I must be the problem!", say "Everyone else liked this thing but I hated it. Everyone else is a moron."

Instead of "I feel out of touch with my peers", say "I have uniquely good taste among my peers."

Instead of "Other people get bored when I talk about my interests", say "Other people are functionally illiterate."

Instead of "I get embarrassed because I have to dumb down my language", say "I am morally superior because I know more words."

Instead of "No one takes my recommendations" say "No one takes my recommendations because they are philistines."

7 p.m. is not late

your day is not over at 7 p.m.

you are allowed to leave your house after it gets dark