Identity Crisis

This spring I discovered something about myself that was previously untrue. I like pepperoni. I thought No way, this cannot be! I've always hated pepperoni. Loathed it. Its so greasy and disgusting. How can I now find it appealing?

I've hated pepperoni as long as I can remember. During school pizza parties, when everyone else raised their hand to vote for pepperoni as their pizza topping of choice, I instead boycotted the whole thing. What's wrong with these people? Not everyone likes greasy deli meat of unknown animal origin on their pizza! What am I supposed to eat? I did the required activity just like everyone else, now I'm left with boring old cheese pizza!

At school lunches, when we finally took a break from dry and bland baked chicken or corndogs, when it was time to kick up our heals and have some pizza, with ranch for dipping cause there's no more refined palate than that of a 13 year old, what does the school put on the pizza? The school that's supposed to promote healthy eating and not put greasy salty meat on our pizza? Pepperoni. That always left me with bland and boring cheese pizza. Yawn.

Then last spring, at Subway, I ate an italian BMT. On flatbread. Greatest. Sandwich. Ever. But guess what? It has the dreaded pepperoni. If I like that sandwich, then I like pepperoni. I cannot make claims to hate something, then eat it. Should I reconsider my previous opinions that I've stubbornly held onto for 27 years? Or turn my back on the best sandwich thats ever happened to me? If I don't hate pepperoni, then who am I? What's next? Am I gonna start eating olives like they're M&Ms? Do I now like all the things I've claimed to hate my entire life?

If I allow myself to evolve into someone who likes pepperoni, am I compromising what I believe in? Or did my taste just change because I grew up? There are things I used to like that I now don't. Tuna. Scrambled eggs. Bellpeppers. What if I just substitute pepperoni into my life in the place that used to be occupied by these now discarded foods? Or should I just accept that people grow up and change throughout their lives? Or I could blame pregnancy. I'm not pregnant right now, but my tastes changed a lot when I was pregnant, and stayed that way. That's what caused the ban on scrambled eggs. Just thinking about eating them makes me want to barf.

I grew up some, and being a grown up means sometimes you eat gross stuff, like broccoli. I guess I could live with that. And life is easier when you're not picking everything off your pizza.