Take time: taste

by Meredith Spicher – Features Editor

Turkey, stuffing, grandma’s homemade gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, freshly baked bread. These are the classic tastes of this time of year. Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and with many of us going home, there is one major thing on our minds. Food. Not just the processed, packaged stuff they have here. I mean genuine, homemade food that was just taken out of the oven. I know, I know, it’s exciting to see family too; but be honest with yourself, how long has it been since you’ve had a good homemade meal? That’s what I thought.

Now imagine, seeing the beautiful turkey in the middle of the table, with the stuffing on the left, gravy on the right. Some fresh bread and cranberry sauce is sitting by the water pitcher. The freshly sugared sweet potato casserole, just out of the oven, placed by the pumpkin pie at the end of the table. Now imagine taking a bite of the sugary sweet, marshmallow-y sweet potato casserole and tasting nothing. Not a thing. All you can do is smell it, look at it, and wish you could enjoy such a delectable dish.

When I first decided to do this topic, I thought there was no way there was an actual disorder causing people to be unable to taste. To my surprise, there is. It is called Ageusia and it is the loss of the taste function of the tongue. It causes the inability to detect sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness. I can’t even imagine not being able to taste anything. Being the foodie that I am, it’s hard to imagine not being able to enjoy the food that I am eating. And there’s always the case made that some people don’t get to taste because they have nothing to taste. They are starving and have no way of getting food.

So next time you sit down to a meal, be thankful that you are able to enjoy it. Even if it is something that you don’t particularly like, there are plenty of other people who would be perfectly happy to eat it instead of you. It’s time to start being grateful for the things given to us, even the small things.