Sept 05, 2003
"It's an acquired taste," says my date from across the table as she waves a wine glass elegantly in one hand. She takes another sip of the red liquid, shrivels up her face, then recomposes herself, smiling smugly as if to stress her point. Before I can think of something to say, she goes on to educate me on the fine differences between various types of wines using words like "fruity" and "dry" and "clear" and a few other regurgitated words you wouldn't normally use to describe taste - not unless you are wearing a beret and a little fruity yourself. All the while, I couldn't stop staring at her face - shrivel, smile, shrivel, smile, the entire evening. I kept my mouth shut and just enjoyed the irony.
In fact, the one thing I found more amusing than her delusion was her explanation. You just have to love the simplicity of those four words. They are supposed to conveniently explain why people put things in their mouth that others would not. It's all so perfectly logical - I drink this drink because I have learnt to like its bitter taste. Of course, the only nagging question left behind is why? Why would somebody want to acquire a taste for something they didn't like in the first place?
Now, before we all get on our high horses and write it all off as yuppie high-brow pretensions, let's give it a moment's thought. There are some very good reasons why people might want to learn to eat things that wouldn't, under normal circumstances, be considered scrumptious. Even practical rural folk do it. For example, among the mountain tribes in the Yunnan province in the south western corner of China, people live in harmony with a natural environment where rodents, reptiles and insects are deliciously prepared and consumed as part of nature's gifts. In their situation, it makes perfect sense. Their harvest is hurt by pests, which are available in abundance, so what can they do? Eat the pests, of course. This tradition is so ingrained in their culture, that bug hunting has become a favorite pastime among their children. This solution works out better than any chemical pesticide technology can dream up.
Coming back to my friend in the city, I have really thought it through but I still don't see the big advantage of nurturing an appreciation for a drink that is stomped out of grapes by women with large feet and left to ferment in dusty cellars for years. It isn't as if the drink comes from a cheap natural source and is easy to prepare. You have to pay a high price to even learn to like the taste of this elaborately processed drink. Or, in her case, I had to pay a high price, but it's not the money that I'm fussing over because I know it was worth every penny seeing her face wrinkle and unwrinkled itself throughout the evening, while I wrote this article in my head.
But why do we do it? If there are no practical reasons, why acquire tastes for things that are nasty on the first try? My best guess is we do it to meet expectations. We pretend to like something we are supposed to like. For instance, you might hear a person say, "Oh, I didn't always like wine. I just used to pretend to like it until I acquired the taste for it." Okay, maybe you won't hear anybody admitting that out loud, but it is possibly something a person might quietly admit to himself or herself.
Or maybe, "Oh, I didn't always like cigarettes. I just wanted to look cool like the Marlboro man and now I'm hooked. The fact that I looked more like the Michelin man didn't bother me because the tobacco ads said I'd look okay once I had this phallic symbol in my mouth and maybe... just maybe... if I blew enough smoke in front of my face..."
Okay, maybe nobody is ever going to say that out loud neither.
But at some point, you are probably going to hear somebody say something, not quite along those lines, but of a similar meaning, and it's very likely that it comes out in the form of those four words - "It's an acquired taste." I cannot tell you how much I love the phrase. I think you can apply it to anything. Shit is an acquired taste if you feed yourself enough of it. The media know this. Just listen to what they feed us - be different, drink Dr Pepper, stand out from the crowd by being one of the few people willing to put our foul-tasting beverage in your mouth. And the amazing thing is that people snap it up, by the millions, effectively demonstrating the herd behavior they were trying to avoid in the first place.
Irony aside, I know you're thinking I must have a point here somewhere. If I do, then the point is this: if a phrase is repeated often enough, it becomes a valid explanation for otherwise unexplainable phenomena.
I find these kinds of explanations most rampant in cities. Cities are just breeding pits for irrational behavior, which is great for me because I live in one and I run a web site that is fueled by irrationality. The truth is it is very easy for city dwellers to fall into a pattern of not having to think, because life is just so convenient for us. When we need water, we turn on the tap. If we need light, we just flick the wall switch. Whether we are cold, hot, thirsty, hungry, bored, horny - all our needs can be fixed easily and quickly as long as we are able and willing to foot the bill. There is no need for a broad range of survival skills, there is no need for an understanding about the wider world, there isn't any of the inconveniences of a barter system - as long as you can work one job, you can earn a commodity which can be exchanged for anything. That is the beauty of modern living but it is also the reason why we are now too lazy to think. Because deep down inside, we know that as long as we are schooled in the art of unoriginal conversation, we can explain away any of our pretensions by just recycling other people's words.
Hence the phrase, "it's an acquired taste."
- Sim
