Having been married to foreign-born Asian immigrant* for decades, I am now fully accustomed to eating certain foods the the Western palate considers absolutely abhorrent. Fresh fish is not only a delicacy, it’s also a common and everyday staple of the diet in many Asian countries. It is wasteful to them that Westerners cut off the heads of fish (and other seafood); they eat the entire thing. The head, eyes, brains, gills of fish are just as delicious as any other parts of their bodies. I enjoy them unapologetically, but I neither expect nor force others to accept it as something they should do if they don’t want to.
*For clarification, even though she was born in a foreign country, she emigrated to the US legally and three years after her arrival, she became a US citizen legally as the spouse of a US citizen (me) and active duty member of the US Armed Forces (also me). In the current climate of certain people making incorrect assumptions and disparaging others from foreign countries, I make these distinctions openly and clearly.
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It’s not merely a question of where one is born, it’s deeper than that. I intentionally gave the background of my wife’s journey to the US because of those people with negative attitudes and prejudices. Any bit of fact that may prevent ignorance, I don’t mind sharing. Just about a week ago, my wife shared with me her concerns that if she’s in public by herself and faced by an anti-Asian encounter. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, many people of Sikh heritage were attacked by racists and some were even killed, all for being mistaken for Arabs due to wearing their traditional head coverings. After the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, many Korean-Americans and Chinese-Americans were stupidly subjected to retribution because all Asians were lumped into the same category and singled out.
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Isn’t it contradictory to state that you don’t eat odd foods except the one that you do eat?
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
“The oddest I have eaten is fried clams.”
Yet you called it odd, and now you’re saying that it’s not odd. Imagine why anyone would find that confusing and contradictory.
(Listen, has there ever been an instance in which you just swallowed your pride and admitted that you had made a mistake, that you where wrong? Ever?)
Well, at least you did apply some humor to this.
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Nanoose 