Corn Snobbery
August 2020
“Where did you get the corn?” She asked. We were sitting out back shucking corn late on a Sunday afternoon. I paused before answering, "From Walmart." I can still see the look of disgust on her face as my words registered. "From Walmart?" She repeated my words back as though she was hoping she heard me wrong and then replied, “Oh, I only like corn from local farms."
"Seriously?!" I said. The next few minutes were a back and forth of her expressing her repulsion and me defending my corn purchase. I too love corn from local farms. I'm partial to Marini Farm and await the arrival of their corn in the farm stand with anticipation each year. I never shopped at Walmart before the pandemic, but their online ordering and curbside pickup are so convenient that I made the switch. I love that I can order everything I need from the comfort of my couch with my dog Teddy curled up next to me. It is possible that the pandemic has resulted in a permanent change to the way I grocery shop.
When we sat down to eat, I passed the plate of corn and she gingerly took an ear, again with that look on her face. She managed a few bites before setting it down and didn't touch it again. We made fun of her the rest of the night telling her that everything on the table came from Walmart. It was a gorgeous summer night and the corn tasted fantastic to me. It was fresh, crisp and sweet and as I ate, I thought about the situation. How could two people have such strong and different reactions to the same corn? She was physically unable to enjoy perfectly cooked corn in the company of friends because of a perplexing opinion about produce from a big box store. Her reaction got me thinking about the biases we all have conscious or unconscious and how they can impact our daily lives. It would be easy to conclude that she's just got a weird hang-up about vegetables and think that I'm somehow more open minded because I'll eat corn on the cob from any store regardless of its origin. I stopped myself. This wasn't a lesson about bias or about me being better because I'm not a corn snob. It doesn't matter what my friend thinks of my corn. She is free to have her own opinion and I don't disagree that local corn is preferable. Despite our differences, she's a great friend who reminds me that our differences are just as much a part of our friendship as our similarities. She helps me see the world in a different way and in the process enriches my life. I'll never forget the look on her face that day or see an ear of corn the same way again. As for my friend, she hasn't been back to the house since; I think it was something she ate.