#freewrite prompt creativewritingexercise

[strangephiti]

Free Writing exercise

Prompt – Eating Out

I have trouble eating out anywhere because I have ‘gluten intolerance’. I can’t even eat food that has been in contact with gluten – cross contamination. With the issues of food avoidance I find that I am not interested in food at all. This is something my ex boyfriend could not understand. He is a taste seeker – he hates bland food. He liked going out to restaurants. But while he would carefully study the menu with glee – I would quickly scan the options (if there were options!) and pick whatever chicken thing was on offer. I never looked forward to the meal. I was simply glad I didn’t have to cook! When we went out with two of his friends it was to a Tapas Bar – lots of little plates of lots of little tastes. I did my best to join in – but looking at the menu meant very little to me. When the food arrived there was a fair bit of ‘have you tried this before? Have a bit, it’s good,’ and ‘are you going to finish that?’ I didn’t try anyone else's food and I barely finished what I ordered. The boys ate the rest. Flavours don’t mean much to me. If something is spicy, I just taste spice. If it’s sweet, I just taste sugar. (I didn’t drink till I was 25 – my brother found it funny when I complained I could ‘taste the alcohol.’) I remember my boyfriend looking at my with his sad little eyes –  his gloomy Eyeore face – completely perplexed by my lack of enjoyment. ‘You didn’t find anything you enjoyed?’ - I answered: ‘It all just tastes like ‘food’ to me.’