What Do You Spread On Your Bread?

I was fairly young when I learned something shocking: not all households use mayonnaise. Some use Miracle Whip. And some households use a different kind of mayo than Best Foods, which was my family’s spread of choice.

As I am traveling, I am reminded of this. My stepsister’s fridge contains Miracle Whip and a dark mustard. Mom still uses Best Foods and Dijon mustard. I use Kraft mayo and whatever mustard currently interests me: Dijon, yellow, stone ground, etc. And my stepsister’s fridge has Swiss cheese, rather than the cheddar I keep.

People have different kinds of tea as well. Many people have no tea in their house at all…luckily for me I haven’t spent much time at those houses, for what would I drink? And among those who do keep tea, what kind(s) do they have in their pantry? One set of friends in the Bellevue WA area have a huge pantry and have many teas in that pantry and in a drawer—one of them drinks only herbal or decaf and the other drinks mostly black. Unfortunately for me, the black tea drinker likes mostly Earl Grey and strongly flavored black teas. Ugh. My stepsister keeps a small variety of herbal and simple black teas, quite drinkable but unfortunately for her not as much as I am used to drinking! I promise to not drink all of her tea. And I can easily go out to the box in my car that contains my tea and my tea pot and make a small pot of my customary tea, which would fill my tummy and provide comfort.

I think that having a bit of the familiar—a favorite tea, some cookies, or a pillow—when traveling can provide a stable ground; traveling makes me feel quite unstable, like I am standing on an ever-changing slope…or quicksand. I think that that instability is part of what provides the challenge and the stimulation of travel, the part that makes you grow.

This journey of mine is not only physical but mental, and part of the mental journey involves stretching my comfort zone to encompass much more than the confines of my own walls. Different spreads and alternative cheeses and plain versus fancy teas may not seem like much, but to someone whose world had constricted to the size of a 1300 square foot house, they represent a foreign country (only one much cheaper and easier to get to).

At least I don’t have to learn a new language to read the street signs.