oregano

Today I talked with a friend who gave me an analogy which gave me great insight to who I am and how people interact with me. She told me that when she moved here she felt like she was constantly out of place. She even expressed that she felt no one liked her. In church one day someone told my friend that she was like the salt of the earth. She was special; she gave the world flavor, and that the Lord needed people like her to spice up others' lives. Likewise, my friend likened me unto salt. Or better yet, oregano.

Not everyone likes oregano, and it's okay. You don't have to. When combined with the right foods, oregano can give it just the right amount of flavor. When sprinkled on the wrong foods, it can taste horrible. Some people love it, and some people hate it. We all have different tastes and that's what makes us who we are. As far as oregano is concerned, everyone falls into one of the following categories.

Oregano lovers- These are the people who love oregano so much they put it on anything. Their car is green like oregano, they wear hats with oregano's initials and they are truly grateful for it. Others may perceive it as overkill, but to the people that love it, it doesn't matter, because to them... oregano tastes good on anything.

Oregano in moderation- These people like oregano when it's good for them. They think about oregano only when they need/want to add it in their food. In fact, they might even pass the spice rack everyday and not even think about oregano.

Oregano envy- These people (or other spices, if you will) are envious of oregano because it may be perceived as at the top of the spice rack. In actuality, oregano is right in the middle. Every time oregano is used, they hate it. They keep waiting for an earthquake to make oregano fall off the shelf/rack. It doesn't happen. They keep waiting for oregano to run out, but it never does. In their minds, oregano is perfect. Little do they know that oregano does have it's weaknesses too. Oregano didn't ask to be put up there, and in fact, it gets lonely at the top.

Oregano haters- Need I say more? These people hate oregano so much they can't even look at it or think about it. They, like the people who are allergic, will do anything to avoid it because they hate it so much. They might have had a bad experience one time. Now forever more, oregano will be on the blacklist.

Oregano fakers- These people pretend to like oregano in public. In fact, they'll even eat it when placed in front of them, or they might ask for it to be sprinkled on their meal. Why? To impress company. As soon as everyone leaves, these people complain about how bad the food tasted, ALL because of the oregano. They may even throw it up.

Not everyone likes oregano, nor does anyone have to. A word to the wise, don't be the last on this list. I think it's better to just dislike the oregano than to be fake. Don't complain about how bad your ice cream tasted because YOU put the oregano on it. Just leave the oregano alone and move on. It doesn't serve you well to talk about how much you hate oregano or how awful it is, or how you wish oregano would fall off the face of this earth. It also doesn't do you any good to pretend to like it, or assume things about it. Especially when you've never opened the bottle.

Oregano minds its own business and gets personally attacked everywhere it goes, even on people's blogs. Again, I tell you, not everyone has to like it, as wonderful as that would be, it's not going to happen. If you are not an oregano lover or even if you aren't fond of oregano, if you really don't like it, or you hate it, or you're envious of it or whatever else, all I ask is that you don't attack it, or pretend to like it. Make up your own mind about oregano but don't rally the troops against it. Is it really gonna make you feel better by attacking a seasoning? Forget about oregano and move on!

Oregano is always gonna be around. You don't have to put yourself around it, talk to it, or talk about it. Oregano doesn't care anymore what you think. It's gonna do it's job: to spice life up. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with the Chef. Oregano is considered to be one of the better seasonings out there. It's special, and SOME people need it. I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder. Good thing my Cook loves it.