Breakfast in America

Maybe you do this too. Whenever my kids won't try something I always launch into this quote by the venerable Dr. Seuss, "You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may."
For my efforts, I can usually get them to take a (tiny) bite. In the story, Sam-I-Am is, of course, referring to green eggs and ham. And though I like to throw this nifty phrase around my dinner table, I myself had never tried green eggs and ham.
All that changed last week.
I can't take credit for the idea. It was C's. I can say that it's a good rainy day activity (we also made red eggs and ham and tried to make blue eggs but only ended up with darker green ones.)
The green eggs came out a brilliant shade of green, fluorescent almost; like nothing found in nature. The color reminded me of Sandy Skoglund's photograph, "Radioactive Cats."
Curiously, even though I knew the eggs would taste like regular eggs, the repulsion reflex was strong. H flat out refused to try any - smart boy. I think the repulsion reflect is located just in front of the gag reflex. My theory is that the repulsion reflex is a last-ditch effort to stop ones self from eating something that will be regrettable later. Early man must have counted on it for his survival, having learned that non-vegetable foods, once they'd turned green, tasted putrid and rotten. Red flags must have started going on in the primordial brain whenever said food was encountered.
I subdued my repulsion reflex in order to appease my five year old and now I can say with certainty, "I like green eggs and ham. I do. I like them Sam-I-Am."

song: Breakfast in America • artist: Supertramp