Extremely Rude Waitress Tonight

[Totiono]

What on earth. From the sounds of it she might've thought she was being funny but she took it way too far. A little bit of harmless egging on is all fine and dandy but no means no and she should've respected that. Her main priority should be serving you, not feeding you. Forcing you to eat something you clearly did not want to eat is highly unprofessional.

[pudddykat]

I just had to pop back in to say you guys are great. I totally agree with the methods the moms on here use/used. I had been forced way too many times (the worst memory is 2/3 years old and babysitter holding my nose to force me to eat potato salad) and it wasn't until I was an adult getting treated for my eating disorder that I realized the link. I love the encouragement and lack of judgement on this site.

[Aragarthiel]

pudddykat, I agree with you completely. Parents shouldn't force their kids to eat ANYTHING they don't want to, unless it's a medical necessity. I don't force my 9-month old to finish what she doesn't like, usually I'll mix it with something to make it taste better, or if she still doesn't want it I'll tell her she has to finish what's already on her face because she hates having her face wiped and would rather eat it.

I'm sorry if I'm being ranty but this is a very sore issue with me, it's given me health problems and I don't want my daughter to grow up thinking she has to eat like Mommy.

[Ben_Who]

My parents never really forced me to eat anything I didn't want to, but for some reason, they were determined to stuff as many Brussels sprouts into my sister as they could manage.

It's a bewildering impulse, I think. They see it as a power struggle and won't let the kid "win," probably. Why was my sister forced to eat Brussels sprouts when I was not forced to eat anything? (I ate Brussels sprouts voluntarily.) My sister couldn't get up from the table until she'd eaten "at least three Brussels sprouts." Why? Is there no other food available that's high in iron? Did she have a beta-carotene deficiency? Was there a bean blight? I'm not exactly slim and trim now, but my sister is thirty years into an eating disorder that's robbed her of every shred of self-esteem she ever had.

[Argus]

For example, I didn't care for steamed veggies, so my mom left some out raw for me.

For me, it was cooked carrots that I would push to the side of my plate, while raw carrots were among my five favorite foods. Other cooked veggies weren't a problem. My mom decided on the same approach as yours. Nowadays, I think raw carrots are simply in my top ten, and I no longer reject cooked carrots, and there are a few other preferences I seem to have outgrown.

[notalwaysright]

For me, it was cooked carrots that I would push to the side of my plate, while raw carrots were among my five favorite foods. Other cooked veggies weren't a problem. My mom decided on the same approach as yours. Nowadays, I think raw carrots are simply in my top ten, and I no longer reject cooked carrots, and there are a few other preferences I seem to have outgrown.

I don't know about you, but texture is (mostly) what I have issues with. I found steamed veggies too mushy. Now if they are steamed well I like them, especially broccoli and cauliflower. As a kid I didn't like soda, because I didn't like the way the carbonation felt in my mouth and throat. Even now runny eggs make me nauseous, but over-hard or scrambled is totally fine. So yeah, taste is important, but if the texture is wrong then it's ruined. At least for me.

[Argus]

I don't know about you, but texture is (mostly) what I have issues with.

It's mostly texture for me as well. That was the case for cooked carrots, and it's still the case for mushrooms (like chewing a rubber band). My mom understood that, because she liked peanuts and disliked peanut butter simply over the texture.

[Seanette]

I have some texture issues myself. Can't deal with soggy bread/pastry or ground beef that isn't well-done.

I second the hate for canned peas. Love fresh or frozen, despise canned with the weird taste and texture. I'm fine with other canned vegetables, just not peas.

[greek_jester]

I don't know about you, but texture is (mostly) what I have issues with. I found steamed veggies too mushy. Now if they are steamed well I like them, especially broccoli and cauliflower. As a kid I didn't like soda, because I didn't like the way the carbonation felt in my mouth and throat. Even now runny eggs make me nauseous, but over-hard or scrambled is totally fine. So yeah, taste is important, but if the texture is wrong then it's ruined. At least for me.

This, exactly. I have this weird thing where if I bite into a mushroom I spend the next ten minutes trying to keep my meal from reappearing. My family have learned to mince mushrooms if I'm coming round for dinner. The really annoying thing is I adore the taste, just biting into one sends my stomach into a tailspin.

[Employee28567]

I think it is entirely possible that she thought she was flirting with you. She thought you were hot.

And of course, that's not acceptable.

[Lace Neil Singer]

About the only rules at meals in my family were:

1. Try something before you say you don't like it.
2. Eat something from the meal or starve cuz mum isn't going to cook two meals.
3. If you don't finish your dinner, you're not hungry enough for pudding.

Might sound mean, but while my mum encouraged me and my brothers to take more if we were still hungry, she didn't like us to load our plates then leave it cuz it was wasting food. So anyone who loaded their plate, messed it about and then left it would not get pudding. We all had very wide ranges of tastes as children; about the only things I won't eat as an adult are mushrooms and spinach. My mum used to tell me to leave mushrooms on the side of my plate; they didn't stay there long, as my brothers loved mushrooms and used to take them. XD

[bhskittykatt]

I don't mind a little banter from my wait person, but she took it too far. She should have just let it go.

And force-feeding I swear just makes you hate food later on. My husband doesn't like spicy food because as a kid, his dad used to cover his thumb in hot sauce and keep it shoved in his mouth in order to get him to stop sucking his thumb. (Though since he started to live with me, he's starting to learn to like spicier food.)

A former CW couldn't stand mushrooms because as a kid, she ate some and threw them up, and was then forced by her uncle to eat the vomited mushrooms.

Only thing I was ever force-fed was pudding with whipped cream, and to this day I can (sometimes) do pudding, I can do whipped cream, but I absolutely can't do the combination of the two. I had gotten my tonsils removed and wasn't feeling up for eating anything, and my mom was making jello and pudding and all sorts of what were certainly awesome snacks but I wasn't eating. She tried to force me to eat the pudding/whipped cream sundae. She ended up on the phone with the doctor in tears because I wouldn't eat anything and I felt bad 'cause I was making her cry. Fortunately that's the only time my parents ever tried to force me to eat anything, and at least they had a pretty good reason for it.

[mathnerd]

This, exactly. I have this weird thing where if I bite into a mushroom I spend the next ten minutes trying to keep my meal from reappearing. My family have learned to mince mushrooms if I'm coming round for dinner. The really annoying thing is I adore the taste, just biting into one sends my stomach into a tailspin.

I have a kid with the same issue. A friend taught me how to make a mushroom paste to get around it. It's super easy. Just take a bunch of mushrooms, slice them and sauté them in butter. If you'd like, you can also add diced onions and garlic (or any other seasonings such as salt, pepper whatever). Cook them until they're extremely mushy, then transfer them to a food processor or blender. Process until the mixture is at a pasty consistency, but without any solid chunks left. When a recipe calls for mushrooms, use an appropriate amount of the paste to impart the flavor desired.

[Aragarthiel]

I can't stand the texture of steaks or pork. Pork always tastes rubbery to me (unless it's super-crispy bacon, then I love it). Steaks always feel like I'm eating a big ball of cloth, full of fibers and really dry.

[Tama]

If that's what your steaks taste like you are not getting good properly cooked steak. It's not supposed to be dry