My brother-in-law, Roger, used to eat a lot of chili
peppers when I was a kid. Although I don’t remember doing so, I apparently used
to bug him fairly regularly to give me one, even though I had no idea what a
chili pepper was. It just seemed that he enjoyed noshing on them so much.
One day, Roger gave in to my--no doubt adorable--entreaties.
He fished around in his bag of dried peppers to find just the right one for me,
a nice big yellow one. He insisted, of course, that I needed to eat the whole
thing at once rather than taking a small bite.
I listened.
I regretted.
I remained a little scared of Roger for a long many
years after that. I did learn an important lesson, however, never ask anyone
again for a bite of anything they seem to be enjoying.
Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it.
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25 comments:
Depending on what kind of pepper that was, I bet it burned for a good long time.
I drank some Japanese hot pepper sauce when I was a little kid. I don't remember but my mom says I cried.
These are things that make me not regret being an only child.
Another axiom to go along with it:
Always have a glass of milk at hand. :)
Alex, I was probably around 6 so I don't really remember other than that it really really burned.
Tom, I can see that.
Bernard, indeed. I'll remember that.
I once asked for a glass of water and had a swig of vinegar instead.
I love the perfect structure of this fine little piece. Your opening line suggests interesting family connections- a kid with a brother in law implies a story right there. A rural southerner using "nosh" suggests you grew up and out.....and a convincing, wry little moral that rings deeper the longer one thinks of it, Charles :-)
Aloha
You can put that stuff on your skin and it'll still burn ya. :)
I was a big Popeye fan as a little kid, and he was always swigging cans of spinach. I'd never had it before. I was pretty eager to try it one day getting my hot lunch served to me at school.
The memory, 40 years on now, can still make me gag.
Prashant, a bitter switch!
Cloudia, I think you see greater depth than was actually put in there, but I will thank you for your kind words.
Ivan, or get into your eyes! Wow, that hurts.
Chris, such experiences last a lifetime for sure.
Something that helps Raynaud's is hot peppers, so I eat habaneros each winter. They're not the very hottest peppers on earth, but they're the hottest I can find in stores, so hot that I don't pick them up with my bare hands, because god help you if you touch your eyes, nose, or privates before you've washed those hands very, very well.
Snowbrush. Habeneros are too hot for me. I like hot sauce and use it alot, but habenero sauce is too much
Yeow! Banana pepper?
Roger sounds like a bit of a dick.
Charles,
Bernard is right about the milk thing.
Hot peppers are certainly not for kids. Ick.
I like my hot peppers so much that the family will not eat anything I cook. But my chili is especially good.
Riot Kitty, I don't think he was very fond of kids, particularly me. I apparently used to annoy him quite a lot, although it wasn't that I was trying to do so. I was just an exuberant kid.
Tyhitia, I know beer doesn't work for hot peppers. :)
Randy, I want to taste your chili now, man.
One of life's toughest lessons ... getting what you want. Because the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and there are always details one didn't expect.
My uncle (he is like an older brother) once volunteered to get ketchup for our French fries and mixed it with Texas Pete and served it to me... And then there was the time I was offered a swig of a Mountain Dew as I worked on an assembly line and didn't realize it contained straight Bourbon
Ty, yeah, always negatives as well as positives. Sometimes just negatives.
Sage, lol. the MT. Dew story reminds me of the Mt. Dew piece I put in Days of beer, about giving Josh a sip of mountain dew. real soda dew that is.
Very funny.
It may or may not be truly a Gypsy curse, but:
"May you get exactly what you [think you] want."
And that thing about "answered prayers" ("More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones"). Wicked ~!
Erik, that is true.
nasty roger!
all hot peppers, including the sauces, have health benefits... just take em a bit at a time
bernard: milk does nothing to relieve the 'heat'; dry bread helps
best is not to overindulge
Laughingwolf, maybe Roger was trying to save me too. :)
Charles-I bet you were totally adorable with your face all screwed up from the pepper!
Jodi, I'm sure I was. I was pretty much always adorable. :)
That's how I was cured of sucking on my fingers. My grandmother put chilli pepper on my fingertips. It was the only time I felt betrayed by her.
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