Freedom and Salad

Last weekend was a taste of freedom…and salad. I’ll start with the freedom part and end with the salad. On Friday night, my wife and I dropped the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa’s house so we could spend a couple of days together without them. We stayed at home, but went out for most of our meals so there wasn’t a lot to clean up.

On Saturday to show my wife how much I love her, I even took her to Sea World for the afternoon and rode on the new roller coaster. You’d understand the depth of my sacrifice if you knew how much I enjoyed being in a crowded amusement park with the sun beating down on me relentlessly searching for that one little patch of skin that didn’t get covered in sun screen while I recover from the severe motion sickness that inevitably accompanies a ride on a roller coaster.  To compensate for a day at an amusement park, I always insist on getting good food on the way home. That always makes me feel better. And that is where the salad comes in.

I am a bit of a blueberry muffin aficionado and one of my favorite places to get blueberry muffins is Souplantation. Not only are they good, but, since its a buffet, the supply is limitless. It was as I was filling my plate at the salad bar that I realized how much you can learn about a person from their salad.

I'm not a huge risk-taker, but I do enjoy an occasional trip to the edge of safe. That's why I do things like put jalepenos and onions on my salad. Of course, I mix in a lot of the traditional things like cucumbers and carrots as well, but to have a salad that wows, you've got to include a few zesty additions. 

My wife is much more cautious than I am. I was reminded of that fact as I watched her put garbanzo beans and beets on her salad. Though odd choices if one wishes to actually enjoy the salad, the flavor of those toppings is much safer than onions and jalepenos, especially when it comes to the aftermath of such a meal. 

That got me thinking. What could I learn about other people by watching their salad habits? Perhaps someone who eats a Caesar Salad harbors secret feelings of world domination? What about someone who opts for spinach over Romaine? Does that person feel weak and is hoping to have a Popeye-like reaction to the dark leaves? Maybe someone who tops things with Italian dressing has a deep desire to travel abroad. 

I bet I could start a business telling people all about their business. All you would have to do is buy me lunch and I could give you a complete psycho-analysis as I observe your eating habits. I'd call it Psycho Salads. I better check Go Daddy to see if that domain's still available.