Today was the start of my Anthropology of Food class at the Museum, and our activity was a blind taste test of eight consecutive foods to see if the blind experience of the taste would evoke any memories. 

That, in and of itself, was a fascinating experience in which I ate watermelon, spinach, apple juice, macaroni and cheese, sweet hearts, hot cocoa, mashed potato, and some people had peeps, but since I don’t eat gelatin, I did not have them. 

Anyway, on my way home, I got on the bus and my mom called. I was telling her about one of my experiences that was evoked by apple juice: when I was in preschool, I had a friend whose house I would always go over to after school. She was always pretty immature for our age, as in continuing to ride in a stroller until we were six or seven. But one thing she always used to request was for someone to fill up baby bottles with apple juice. I’m talking real baby bottles. The ones with the rubber nipple. So that’s how I used to drink apple juice. 

Over the phone, I was describing this to my mother and there was a guy I assume was my age sitting next to me because he was reading a US History textbook. When I got off the phone, the guy turned to me and asked, “So…what do you associate with apple juice?” 

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