The following event brought back a memory that made me grin.
https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/event-calendar/october-2019/eat-a-bug/eat-a-bug-october-12
Years ago, when Ron and I ran The Higher Ark youth ministry on our property for our church, we had a back porch full of kids eating bugs.
Live crickets, to be exact.
For a celebration of the feast day of St. John the Baptist.
https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/event-calendar/october-2019/eat-a-bug/eat-a-bug-october-12
Years ago, when Ron and I ran The Higher Ark youth ministry on our property for our church, we had a back porch full of kids eating bugs.
Live crickets, to be exact.
For a celebration of the feast day of St. John the Baptist.
It started off with one man in his early 20s, who brought his younger siblings to the group. He approached me and asked if I thought if the kids would like to see him eat a live cricket dipped in honey. Knowing kids, I told him they would.
So he stopped at pet supply store on the way to my house to buy a bag full of live crickets. He poured honey on a plate, dipped a live cricket, and to a chorus of Ewwwws!" ate it in front of a dozen kids.
So he stopped at pet supply store on the way to my house to buy a bag full of live crickets. He poured honey on a plate, dipped a live cricket, and to a chorus of Ewwwws!" ate it in front of a dozen kids.
The kids all thought it was gross until a 17-year-old, who had been running late due to babysitting, showed up and said, "Game on!"
From that point forward, the kids outdid each other as to who could eat more of them. One teen girl got a feeler stuck in her tooth and simply pulled it out.
One teen boy polished off the last three with a large spoonful of honey and turned a bit green. But he only said, "The honey is too sweet."
I was fearing latent cricket allergies and irate parents.
Neither happened.
But it turned out to be a great lesson in peer pressure for the kids.
This is nothing against the Forest Preserve District of Will County's event (many of the world's population do eat bugs, enough that the Old Testament has rules of the ones the Israelites may eat), which is a good way to teach cultural awareness.
But it does show how easily kids, maybe even adults, can be swayed, in either direction, if the right person sways them.
They went from "ick" to practically tripping over themselves to try the same activity once one of their own thought it was cool.
Something to ponder.
Illustration by Matt Coundiff
for "Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony."
This is nothing against the Forest Preserve District of Will County's event (many of the world's population do eat bugs, enough that the Old Testament has rules of the ones the Israelites may eat), which is a good way to teach cultural awareness.
But it does show how easily kids, maybe even adults, can be swayed, in either direction, if the right person sways them.
They went from "ick" to practically tripping over themselves to try the same activity once one of their own thought it was cool.
Something to ponder.
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