Re: Picky Dinner Guests

Michael \'Dog3\ said:

Dave Smith <[email hidden]> dropped this
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

It is a damned shame, and you never know when it is going to strike
you, a family member or a friend. It can run a range, from mild down
to a serious and debilitating depression, from zany moments to raving
lunacy. It's hard for the rest of us to deal with because there it can
be hard to deal with rationally. I don't know many people without some
form of mental illness somewhere in the family.

I've often wondered what brings it on. I mean, is it genetics or
something else? David (the schizophrenic) has complete bouts of sanity.
Then he just loses it. Never will I forget the time I had to pick him up
from Lambert here in St. Louis. Sarah, his grandmother, called me panic
stricken. He just hopped a plane and wound up here in St. Louis. Could I
help. Well,I was way out of my league but I did the best I could. I wound
up calling security to *secure* him and then made arrangements to get him
back to Atlanta. It was a total nightmare and I can only imagine what
Sarah must have gone through all those years. David's father also does
the best he can. I dunno... it has got to be hard.

Michael

as far as i know, most of these things are dependent on brain
chemistry, so i guess you could blame genetics, but some are triggered
by allergic reactions, so you're back to environment.

probably you can attribute some forms of neuroses to upbringing, but
something like manic depression (i forget what they call it now) is
almost certainly brain chemistry, since talk therapy isn't going to
help and drugs do.

at least they've stopped blaming autism on the 'cold mother,' but now
some have leaped in the other direction and are now blaming vaccines.
mental illness has always been a field rife with quackery.

your pal,
blake

Michael \'Dog3\ said:

Dave Smith <[email hidden]> dropped this
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

It is a damned shame, and you never know when it is going to strike
you, a family member or a friend. It can run a range, from mild down
to a serious and debilitating depression, from zany moments to raving
lunacy. It's hard for the rest of us to deal with because there it can
be hard to deal with rationally. I don't know many people without some
form of mental illness somewhere in the family.

I've often wondered what brings it on. I mean, is it genetics or
something else? David (the schizophrenic) has complete bouts of sanity.
Then he just loses it. Never will I forget the time I had to pick him up
from Lambert here in St. Louis. Sarah, his grandmother, called me panic
stricken. He just hopped a plane and wound up here in St. Louis. Could I
help. Well,I was way out of my league but I did the best I could. I wound
up calling security to *secure* him and then made arrangements to get him
back to Atlanta. It was a total nightmare and I can only imagine what
Sarah must have gone through all those years. David's father also does
the best he can. I dunno... it has got to be hard.

Michael

one thing about credit cards is that they vastly increase your scope
of operations when you're in a manic phase.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy <[email hidden]> dropped this
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

Michael \'Dog3\ said:

> Why not? That is what a lot of those mentally people do.

Mental illness is a damned shame. My now deceased friend has a
grandchild with Schizophrenia. It is ugly. Very ugly and no one is
to blame.

It is a damned shame, and you never know when it is going to strike
you, a family member or a friend. It can run a range, from mild down
to a serious and debilitating depression, from zany moments to raving
lunacy. It's hard for the rest of us to deal with because there it can
be hard to deal with rationally. I don't know many people without some
form of mental illness somewhere in the family.

very true. it's a shame that compassion isn't nearly as widespread.

Blake, I'm a compassionate person. I don't understand the lack of it. I
just don't get it.

Michael

--
Too much fun! Click the card link and print 'em out.

http://shorterlink.com/?87KN1V

Send email to: michael at lonergan dot us dot com

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Amarantha said:

Or it could be neurobiological. Disorders on the autism spectrum, for
example, can cause severe food aversions in some.

Interesting. Tell me more. Do autism disorders ever cause slight food
aversions? Does it work in reverse? I'm thinking of adults I know who,
while not as extreme as the woman Jill described, are pretty picky. Would
it make sense to suspect an autism disorder in them?

This is interesting to me, too. My mother had "food issues," almost always
based upon consistency, and my sister's child is the same way.

She would not eat any type of dressing, including mayonnaise, so we
had to taste test her chicken salad and other dishes made with it. She
would not eat eggs of any kind but would eat toast dipped in an egg
over easy. She loved the flavor of onion and garlic, but not the consistency
so would only use onion and garlic salt.

blake murphy <[email hidden]> dropped this
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

one thing about credit cards is that they vastly increase your scope
of operations when you're in a manic phase.

Credit cards are good. I like 'em.

Michael

--
Too much fun! Click the card link and print 'em out.

http://shorterlink.com/?87KN1V

Send email to: michael at lonergan dot us dot com

In article <[email hidden]>,

Serene said:

Abe said:

Quoted message said:

jmcquown wrote:
> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
> WHATEVER.
I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.

There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has affected
this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the matter.
It's called a mental illness.

Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?

Personal experience.

Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn that.

Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

Dan Abel said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Serene said:

Abe said:

> jmcquown wrote:
>> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
>> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
>> WHATEVER.
> I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.
There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has affected
this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the matter.
It's called a mental illness.

Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?

Personal experience.

Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn that.

Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

I learned a few years ago from a psychologist that a person can be
driven insane. It's especially true for children because they don't
have many (sane) life experiences to fall back on for a reality check.

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Oh pshaw, on Fri 23 Nov 2007 06:18:15p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Dan Abel said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Serene said:

Abe wrote:
>> jmcquown wrote:
>>> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
>>> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
>>> WHATEVER.
>> I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.
> There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has affected
> this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the matter.
> It's called a mental illness.

Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?

Personal experience.

Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn that.

Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

I learned a few years ago from a psychologist that a person can be
driven insane. It's especially true for children because they don't
have many (sane) life experiences to fall back on for a reality check.

If I'm going to be driven there, make it at least in a mercedes.

--
Date: Friday, November(XI) 23rd(XXIII),2007(MMVII)

*******************************************
Today is: Day After Thanksgiving
Countdown 'til Christmas
4wks 1dys 5hrs 30mins
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Your weapon was made by the lowest bidder!
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Wayne Boatwright said:

If I'm going to be driven there, make it at least in a mercedes.

Amen, brother!

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Michael \'Dog3\ said:

blake murphy <[email hidden]> dropped this
news:[email hidden]: in rec.food.cooking

Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

Michael \"Dog3\" wrote:
>
> > Why not? That is what a lot of those mentally people do.
>
> Mental illness is a damned shame. My now deceased friend has a
> grandchild with Schizophrenia. It is ugly. Very ugly and no one is
> to blame.

It is a damned shame, and you never know when it is going to strike
you, a family member or a friend. It can run a range, from mild down
to a serious and debilitating depression, from zany moments to raving
lunacy. It's hard for the rest of us to deal with because there it can
be hard to deal with rationally. I don't know many people without some
form of mental illness somewhere in the family.

very true. it's a shame that compassion isn't nearly as widespread.

Blake, I'm a compassionate person. I don't understand the lack of it. I
just don't get it.

Michael

it's hard to say. possibly some kind of defense mechanism: 'there's
something wrong with that person; that's why it happened to them. but
i'm a good person, so that could never happen to me.'

i'm not saying you should go around paralyzed with angst about all the
crappy things that happen to people, but it should be enough to say,
'sure glad it isn't me' rather than 'well, they probably deserve it
anyhow.' it's baffling.

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

your pal,
blake

Wayne Boatwright said:

Oh pshaw, on Fri 23 Nov 2007 06:18:15p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Dan Abel said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
Serene <[email hidden]> wrote:

> Abe wrote:
> >> jmcquown wrote:
> >>> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
> >>> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
> >>> WHATEVER.
> >> I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.
> > There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has affected
> > this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the matter.
> > It's called a mental illness.
>
> Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?

Personal experience.

Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn that.

Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

I learned a few years ago from a psychologist that a person can be
driven insane. It's especially true for children because they don't
have many (sane) life experiences to fall back on for a reality check.

If I'm going to be driven there, make it at least in a mercedes.

....with a few stops at saloons along the way.

your pal,
blake

Oh pshaw, on Sat 24 Nov 2007 10:09:25a, blake murphy meant to say...

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Oh pshaw, on Fri 23 Nov 2007 06:18:15p, meant to say...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 16:38:36 -0800, Dan Abel <[email hidden]> wrote:

>In article <[email hidden]>,
> Serene <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
>> Abe wrote:
>> >> jmcquown wrote:
>> >>> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
>> >>> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
>> >>> WHATEVER.
>> >> I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.
>> > There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has

affected

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> > this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the

matter.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> > It's called a mental illness.
>>
>> Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?
>
>
>Personal experience.
>
>Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
>avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
>primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn

that.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>
>Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

I learned a few years ago from a psychologist that a person can be
driven insane. It's especially true for children because they don't
have many (sane) life experiences to fall back on for a reality check.

If I'm going to be driven there, make it at least in a mercedes.

...with a few stops at saloons along the way.

your pal,
blake

Make that a Mercedes limo with a bar. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright

Date: Sat, 11(XI)/24(XXIV)/07(MMVII)

*******************************************
Countdown 'til Christmas
4wks 13hrs 15mins
*******************************************
Everything in our favor was against us.
*******************************************

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:57:47 GMT, blake murphy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

We don't have to blame the Puritans. We have plenty of modern day
bible thumpers who think that way.

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smiley face first

blake murphy said:

it's hard to say. possibly some kind of defense mechanism: 'there's
something wrong with that person; that's why it happened to them. but
i'm a good person, so that could never happen to me.'

i'm not saying you should go around paralyzed with angst about all the
crappy things that happen to people, but it should be enough to say,
'sure glad it isn't me' rather than 'well, they probably deserve it
anyhow.' it's baffling.

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

It can be exasperating to try to deal with it. I have some friend's whose
youngest sister is a little messed up. She has never been diagnosed with
anything, but her life is a mess. When one of the brothers was staying
with us a few years ago he went into town to check on her and he was in
tears when he described her condition to us. She was living in a dark,
dirty apartment above a bar with just a bed, a chair, dresser and a TV. She
sits in her room all day, watches television and chain smokes and eats
pizza. Their father died a few years ago and left them a lot of money and
a trust account was set up for the troubled sister. They got her into a
nicer apartment near a nice mall.

She claims that she does not want money from them. She doesn't want much to
do with any of them, or even with her children. A few years ago the
brothers in sisters were all in town for Thanksgiving. They are scattered
across the country and rarely get home. The mother was suffering from
Leukaemia (died just a few months later). My wife and I went down to visit
with the mother and the rest of the family and they called the troubled
sister to invite her over. She lived a 10 minute bus ride away. they even
offered to come and pick her up. Her response ....Why don't you all just
leave me alone.

So she lives in her little apartment, smoking, eating [censored] food and
watching television. She does not shower or bathe, or wash her hair, or
even brush her teeth. She has become extremely fat. She is sick, likely
depressed, but does not want help, will not seek help, and there is nothing
they can do to make her get it. They feel obligated to help their sister,
but the sister does nothing to ingratiate herself to them. It is a losing
battle.

Dan Abel said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Serene said:

Abe said:

> jmcquown wrote:
>> She's one of those people, if she doesn't know what it is it
>> must be terrible. If anyone mentioned sourdough she'd freak.
>> WHATEVER.
> I'd advise to steer clear of mental cases like her.
There's clearly something screwy in her upbringing that has affected
this way. I don't think she sees that she has a choice in the matter.
It's called a mental illness.

Why would you blame a person's mental illness on her parents?

Personal experience.

Children learn from their parents. When one is insane, and the other
avoids the family, then the child learns from that parent. When the
primary role model is insane, the child has no choice but to learn that.

Personal experience. It hasn't been pretty.

Your experience is sad, but to say that there's "clearly" something
in someone's upbringing that causes mental illness is such a grave
insult to the millions of good parents who have children with mental
illnesses. (And it's not true that if one has insane parents, one
has no choice but to be insane, as well. I know many (too many!)
people with genuinely insane parents who ended up rising above that
and being happy and healthy.

ObFood: Serene, you silly, silly person, please stop eating salty
snacks before bed. You are just *asking* for a headache.

Serene

sf said:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:57:47 GMT, blake murphy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

We don't have to blame the Puritans. We have plenty of modern day
bible thumpers who think that way.

People who write things like that are almost always people who God
hates anyway.

--Bryan

"Serene" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Your experience is sad, but to say that there's "clearly" something in
someone's upbringing that causes mental illness is such a grave insult to
the millions of good parents who have children with mental illnesses.

Yes indeed. A dear friend's son was diagnosed with Schizophrenia
while he was in college, all of 19 years old. She and her husband
blamed themselves (for no good reason) and are divorced now.
This is their only son, well loved, well cared for, the bright child
of very bright parents, both professionally accomplished.

"blake murphy" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

Or maybe just "DESTROY THE DIFFERENT ONE! DIFFERENT BAD!
UG!"

Beat that for a dark view of human nature.

(Also, mental illness is defined as "[blah blah blah ...] and they bother
people.
Until you bother people in some way, you can be as crazy as an outhouse rat
and nobody will call you mentally ill.)

"cybercat" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

"Serene" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

Your experience is sad, but to say that there's "clearly" something in
someone's upbringing that causes mental illness is such a grave insult to
the millions of good parents who have children with mental illnesses.

Yes indeed. A dear friend's son was diagnosed with Schizophrenia
while he was in college, all of 19 years old. She and her husband
blamed themselves (for no good reason) and are divorced now.
This is their only son, well loved, well cared for, the bright child
of very bright parents, both professionally accomplished.

Schizophrenia runs in families, and I would hope we've moved beyond
"it's the mother's fault" ... it's biological in cause.

nancy

<sf> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 24 Nov 2007 16:57:47 GMT, blake murphy <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

or maybe it's some kind of residual puritan idea that folks are being
punished by god, who seems to go in for that sort of thing.

We don't have to blame the Puritans. We have plenty of modern day
bible thumpers who think that way.

It would be interesting to view a survey of rfc'ers of their religious
beliefs.
Dee Dee