I’m Reminded Not to Make Generalizations

You know how you sometimes say, “I can’t stand X,” or, “I hate Y?” I need to remember not to do that. Generalizations like that have a tendency to be proven wrong all to often.

Example: I know I’ve said many times that I “hate” hush puppies. To me they are lumps of mush deep-fried into hot, brown rocks. Their goal is to fill you up so the restaurant doesn’t have to serve you so many shrimp. Or, so I say.

This evening, I was reminded that not all hush puppies are the same. The ones made by the master of the pup, my fellow Master Naturalist Alan, are something else altogether.

They are golden brown, with a light but crunchy exterior that leads to an explosion of the creamy, moist flavor of green onions, corn, and magic. I had three of them tonight, and I didn’t care if it meant I ate less of the freshly fried catfish and bass.

Obviously, I made a sweeping generalization about hush puppies, and I was wrong. So remember the next time you say you hate some category of people or things, some shining example may well cause you to eat your words. Or your fried cornmeal product.

Um. I’ve also been known to disparage all fried food. Wrong again.