Grocery Store Questions and Other Raw Experiences

I bet all of you raw foodies/JFers have all experienced at least once a stranger asking you in the grocery store what a particular item is that’s in your basket or what on earth are you doing with all that produce! Am I right?

It’s happened to me a time or two. Sometimes they think we’re making lots of pies because why else would someone have all that fruit?! I’m usually asked about young Thai coconuts too. Questions range from “what is that?” and “what do you do with that?” and “how do you eat it?”

Prickly pears are another good conversation starter or eyebrow-raiser.

Today however it was all about aloe vera leaves. I was checking out the fresh aloe vera leaves when an older man on the other side of the veggie display asked me what I was holding. He was so curious he asked me if he could take a closer look then asked what I used it for and was it edible, etc. Very inquisitive. He was so excited that he had learned something new. He then told me that it must be working for me and to keep eating it because I looked healthy. Aw shucks! And since we were talking about eating healthy he proudly told me he eats a grapefruit every morning and had been doing that for years.

It’s fun to share information but usually I don’t know enough about the item and its health benefits to go rambling on but I suppose that’s a good thing sometimes.

Speaking of rambling on, another experience I’ve had, which means you probably have experienced this in one way or another, is talking with someone who is not on the same page as you when it comes to what you eat.

Awhile back, a woman asked me about something I was eating at lunch and I told her it was vegan (not raw) but did tell her about eating raw too. At the time, my interpretation of her reaction was that this was not well received; she seemed to frown and lose interest in our conversation (the standard question “if you don’t eat meat how do you get your protein?” was asked).

Well…the other day she noticed I had lost weight and asked if it was due to being vegan. Why yes as a matter of fact! but I also had to explain to her I’m not always vegan and/or raw but try to be high raw vegan as much as possible, if not more. So this led to other questions from her and even asked how she could find more info on the subject. I wrote down some things for her to research or check online. Obviously, I was wrong to assume she wasn’t interested.

I realized afterwards that whenever she’d ask me a question I’d give mile long answers (or it seemed like it). Not sure if you’ve noticed this special trait of mine here on this blog but I tend to RAMBLE on and on. This is not a new revelation for me. To anyone else it may not be so obvious. Kidding! Call it HiHoRosiespeak. Funny thing is if I’m not rambling on some people think something’s wrong.

Note to self: stick to the point when asked questions.

I just hope I didn’t turn her off from looking into raw foods by overloading her with unnecessary information or info she wasn’t ready for. Hopefully, she’ll find what interests and works for her.

Still it was very flattering to be asked about my healthy choices and share with strangers the adventures of unfamiliar foods; foods that are healthy, fun and yummy.

Oh and did you watch American Idol last night? Holey moley! Paula Abdul confused me with her critique of Jason's yet-to-be-sung song choice. I thought I had missed something. No, just Paula missing something. ha ha! And Jason, I'm sorry, but it's time for you to go home.