We took our friend Elizabeth (visiting from New York) down to Miami last Saturday and before dinner she noted that I was a finicky eater. I took exception to the charge.
Considering how food now dominates the world of travel, it was worse than being accused of having no sense of direction. Thanks to TV, travel writers can now mouth platitudes (they’re almost encouraged to do so) as long as they’re enthusiastically downing some hideous foodstuff that may or may not be indicative of what the local population eats.
Anyway, in my defense, I explained to Elizabeth that I am simply not a big meat eater. I left out – assuming it was understood – that I can’t stand organs or offal.
Later it occurred to me that if I just gave up meat, nobody would think of me as a finicky eater. They would just say, respectfully, that I was a vegetarian.
