You’ve just gotten out of your last class of the day; it’s 1:30 in the afternoon and you’re ready for a well-deserved lunch. You whip out your phone as you make the trek to the cafeteria to text me, asking if you want to meet for lunch. I say that I’m down.

You can’t stop talking about how hungry you are as we walk into the dining area. I say that I’m not that hungry, but will probably get something to nibble on. Walking by the food, you run to the closest stack of dishes you can find so you can find to start filling your plate. I lag behind. When you ask me what I’m going to get, I make a face and say, “I’ll probably just get a small salad, I’m not that hungry right now”. You probably shrug and think to yourself, “doesn’t this girl get tired of eating salads every day?”

If you’ve dined with me before, you know this experience all too well. Rarely do I ever fill my plate with food and inhale every last morsel of it. I’ve obviously had the occasional day every so often where I’ve been so busy that I skip most of my meals and face dreadful hunger pains the next morning. Then, and only then, do I chow down during a meal.

I honestly have no idea how I’ve come to be such a picky eater. My parents have told me the stories of how I would go to town eating an avocado and practically devour an entire watermelon in one sitting as a little girl. I have even seen the picture of me as a toddler inhaling a bagel even though I barely had any teeth. I still love watermelon and bagels, but it's taken me fourteen years to eat avocado again, and that was because my mother forced me to try guacamole.

I guess as I grew older, my taste in foods became more and more refined. I would only eat one thing and one thing only for lunch; my mother would make me a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread cut down the middle every single day. This trait of being a creature of habit has not changed much; I often eat this very same sandwich for dinner when I’m busy during the week.

I also think it’s very easy to become shy when it comes to trying out new foods. I can definitely say that I am not an adventurous eater. If you take me to a Mexican restaurant, I will have a plain taco with cheese inside along with a glass of water to wash it down.

However, I challenged myself a lot when I went to Los Angeles and dined with some friends at a dim sum restaurant. Leaving my comfort zone, I tried shrimp as well as two different kinds of dumplings: dumplings filled with pork soup, as well dessert dumplings filled with taro (which tasted like vanilla!). I’m really glad I got to experiment with such a different type of meal because it made me face my fear of unknown food.

Yet, despite the fact that I was so adventurous, I prefer to stick to my usual meals when it comes to mundane dining during the average day. People make fun of me for it (usually all in good fun, I hope), but I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a picky eater. My parents have nicely tried telling me how boring it is to eat the same thing every day, but I can tell them that I am perfectly fine doing it.

I won’t apologize for being selective when it comes to my food choices, nor will I try to convert you into being as picky an eater as I am. Everyone should eat what they want and not think twice about what other people are eating (unless it’s something dangerously unhealthy, of course). I am perfectly fine eating my small salads along with a piece of bread with some butter on the side.

You and I may sit down at a booth at a local restaurant we’ve been dying to try out. We’ll look through the menus, but you’re too focused on all the listed dishes that seem so delicious. When the waiter comes over, you’ll order a double cheeseburger with a side of french fries and macaroni and cheese.

After skimming over the menu, I’ll just decide on getting one slice of plain cheese pizza with a side of fries. When the waiter asks if that’s all I want to order, you shouldn’t hesitate to say, “yep, that’s all she’s having!”