The Free Radical

Don’t they look scrumptious? Especially the bright shiny ones on the left?

Yeah, well… not so much. I’d honestly forgotten how horrible Buffalo Berries are. I had to try one… again… ’cause that’s just the kind of guy I am. I need to know for myself what things taste like. Buffalo Berries are classified as edible. Perhaps from a strictly biochemical scientific standpoint they’re technically edible, but from the perspective of the culinary palate they really suck! Who eats that shit?

“Some do.”

Whoops… wasn’t expecting today’s message to come from Buffalo Berry, especially after my open admission of disdain.

“Um… no offence, but a guy’d have to be really, really hungry to munch down a handful of your offerings.”

“Your palate is presently misaligned with the future to which you aspire.”

“Mine personally? Or all of humanity?”

“Both… although ‘humanity’ is incorrect. It is your culture causing misalignment, not anything inherent in your species. Your tastes are currently skewed toward sweetness. Your preference for sweetness is detrimentally unbalanced. Sweetness is a marker for caloric content, but when unused energetically it feeds microbial maladies within your systems. You have largely lost your taste for bitterness.”

“Oh, I can taste the bitterness just fine thanks.”

“You have lost your appreciation for bitterness. Many among you do not begin to understand that your preferences are choices. You are free to choose what you prefer at any time. Many still define their human identity by their specific preferences, and deem that identity to be fixed and immutable. You may choose, however, to acquire certain tastes as opportunities arise– without compromising your essential identity in the slightest. In bitterness you will find healing… and a whole new world of novel experience. Much of the most interesting biochemistry is hidden in bitterness. Explore.”

Yeah, I get it. I thanked Buffalo Berry for the message and walked straight over to a nearby Saskatoon Berry bush, happily discovering a few ripened berries with which to cleanse my offended palate. Ah, much better. Maybe somewhere down the long and winding road I would eventually find Buffalo Berry’s extreme bitterness (although he seemed a rather pleasant chap) to be palatable, but for now I think I’m willing to just stick with things like dandelions to prepare my appreciation for any deeper bitterness.