Day 97: Tradition

Don't you love Fiddler on the Roof?  I actually saw this musical for the first time in a high school production, which to be honest, I usually hate.  It isn't that I don't understand that our youth are learning and growing, etc., etc., but I just think there is nothing better than really good theater, and that there is nothing worse than really bad theater.  Anyway, this high school production was actually pretty good.  (It was kind of funny when, a several years after seeing Fiddler on the Roof, my wife and I were at a Shakespearean Festival and we saw Camelot (don't ask why they were doing Camelot at a Shakespearean Festival) and realized that the guy that played King Arthur was the same guy that played Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof.  The guy is a pretty good actor.)

Anyway, Fiddler on the Roof is a wonderful musical with some powerful messages.  A comment left by Denise this week reminded me of this wonderful musical.  She said that she has been trying to improve her eating, but went to the store and was done in by a Hershey's Chocolate Marshmallow--a delectable available only during the Valentine's season.  (Just a side note here, don't you think that it is a little early to be "celebrating" Valentine's Day?  I mean, for crying out loud, it is the middle of January.  Valentine's Day is not for another month and they are already trying to sell us Valentine's Day candy?  Frankly, I believe Denise's downfall should not be blamed on her, but should be blamed on marketers and retailers.)  

Denise's comment made me start thinking about tradition, and in particular, food traditions.  I am not talking about good food traditions, such as having turkey on Thanksgiving.  I think these types of traditions are valuable and important.  I am talking about bad or worthless food traditions that are really hard for us to break.  The Chocolate Marshmallow may be one of them.  I know that the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg and the Cadbury Egg are two of mine at Easter time.  Every Easter, I see these things at the store, and every year I buy them.  I don't even like those stupid Cadbury Eggs, but I buy one every year and choke it down.  Why?  Tradition!

There is a great line in Fiddler on the Roof about tradition.  Tevye (the main character in the story) says:  "Because of our traditions, we've kept our balance for many, many years. . . . We have traditions for everything:  How to sleep, how to eat, how to work, even how to wear clothes.  For instance, we always keep our heads covered, and always wear a little prayer shawl that shows our constant devotion to God. You may ask, 'How did this tradition get started?'  I'll tell you . . . . . I don't know!  But it's a tradition--and because of our traditions every one of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do."

I think tradition is a vital part of our family and social makeup.  Tradition may, in fact, be one way that we know who we are and what God expects us to be.  I do not, however, think that tradition is always a good thing, and I think we often times create traditions that are not only unnecessary, but down right bad for us.  Candy and food traditions can be one of them.  I guess, as I have been on the lifestyle, I have wondered why on earth I have them in the first place.  I think food--and high calorie-high fat food in particular--creates a nostalgia for things in the past that we have loved and enjoyed.  I think this is because food is such a sensory-driven activity.  We use touch, smell, taste, sight, and sometimes even sound (think sizzling fajitas) when we eat.  Here are a few examples from my life of nostalgia-inducing foods and the memories associated with them:

Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs--Easter

Cadbury Eggs--Easter

A really good mustard--my trip to Germany, and in particular, my visit to Neuschwanstein Castle

Toffee--my grandmother and Christmas

A good churro--Disneyland

A bad churro--Disney World (seriously, how can Disneyland get the churro perfectly right and Disney World get them completely wrong?)

A great waffle cone--Manly Island in Sydney Harbor, Australia
Sturgeon--My friend Mike, who one time when I took him to lunch ordered this completely random fish; actually, I don't have to eat this one, someone just has to mention the word "sturgeon" and I am reminded of him

Cheesecake Triffle--Summertime, and in particular, the Fourth of July (by the way, if this wasn't so terribly bad for you, I would share the recipe; if you want the recipe even though it is bad for you, let me know)
Horseradish Sauce--My wedding (and in particular, when my wife slathered her salad with it thinking she was getting ranch dressing--no folks, the tears were not tears of joy!)

Every time I eat one of these items, I am taken back to pleasant memories.  Every time I am in one of these places or seasons, I have to eat the associated food.  My trip or the season simply isn't complete without them.  The real question is why?  In reality, I know that I do not need to eat a churro just so I can remember a few memories of being a kid at Disneyland.  Frankly, I can conjure up memories of being on Space Mountain without needing anything to eat--and that memory is just as sweet without a churro as it is with a churro.  

Look, I am not saying never have a Double Fudge Chocolate Mallow Bar ever again, I am just saying don't do it simply because it is tradition.  Be thoughtful about it.  I don't think anyone will blame you if you have, for the last twenty years, had a piece of taffy on your grandfather's birthday because you always ate taffy with him and it is a tradition.  I mean, I think Tevye was right when he said that "without our traditions we would be a shaky as . . . as . . . as a fiddler on the roof!"  But, then again, if you eat a Cadbury Egg every year for Easter, and have no idea why you do it, maybe it is time to shake things up.