I hate peas, cucumbers, peanut butter, and meetings.
I’ll eat peas if they are put on my plate, but I won’t put them there myself. Why? Because I don’t like the extra little bit of skin on them. They texture grosses me out. I love grapes because they have a tight skin, so they are crisp. Fresh peas don’t feel fresh. I hate peas.
The only time in my life my mother made me stay at the table until I ate something was the time I denied my mouth cucumbers. I was 6. They felt slimy. After sitting in my chair for 4 hours, I finally ate the four slices. I put too much salt on them and threw up. Because of that, I hate cucumbers.
When I was 8, we traveled on a family vacation to Yellow Stone National Park. Stuck in traffic, we reached into the cooler and made sandwiches with the only thing we had: Whole wheat bread and peanut butter. I hadn’t drank any water that day and the PB sandwich dehydrated me to the point that I experienced my first migraine. Migraines now remind me of peanut butter and how much I hate it.
This last year, I accepted a massive publishing project. My supervisor has never managed before and had never been involved with published, design or deadline oriented projects (don’t ask me how she got the job, I don’t know.) She would schedule a team meeting once a week, every week, to check up on us. Two hours later, she still wouldn’t understand the project and she has successfully wasted 30 hours of work. 15 people, 2 hour meeting, it makes sense.
The reason I tell you these things is not so you can sympathize with me as a migraine plagued 8-year-old. When something frustrates you, instead of ignoring it, investigate it. When you hate something, find out why. There’s always an answer.
And that answer will always educate and influence you more than the hate ever could. What do you hate?
Daniel E. Agee 