overheard on bus: made me laugh

A young African American woman sat next to me on the Transbay bus from SF to Berkeley. Note:  I have increasingly taken the bus over the Bay Bridge instead of the subway under the bay.  Not having a car, if I always take BART, I get few views of the spectacular setting in which I live. On the bridge, I behold so much beauty.

This young woman talked on her cell the whole way. I did not listen to her. I was reading a book.  I just overheard one snippet. She said "I am now so Berkeley!" and she laughed. Then she said, "Gosh, I'm even gluten free."

I have been going to many parties, occasions to socialize with new acquaintances.  Eating at a restaurant one day last week, I reviewed the menu and noted that the only thing I could eat was the side of spinach and even then I had to ask them to not give me the dairy sauce."Not even on the side?" the waiter asked. Nope, not even on the side.

I turned to the people I was dining with and tried to be a little self-effacing or something. I said "I must sound like I am too fussy." But this guy sitting across from me, another lawyer, said "You are speaking my language.  My life has a million diet restrictions. No gluten for her, no dairy, no sugar and she can't do nuts so no almond milk." Then he and I said together "Coconut milk."

In the past week, no exaggeration, I have been a part of, or overheard, endless conversations about people making the most careful eating choices they can.

Why does anyone eat crap like Doritos, cheap pizza -- especially frozen, Triscuits?

Sometimes I see someone, often a young male adult who seems hungry, stuffing his face as fast as he can with some crappy food-like substance like Doritos and I want to say "You need real food. I can see you are hungry. The stuff you are eating will not really feed you. Eat some real food."  I don't say such things, not even to people I know a bit. It's not for me to tell another how to eat.

I do love finding myself at gatherings where the food is vegan or vegetarian. I love gluten-free parties.

Hearing that young black woman say "I am so Berkeley I am gluten free" gave me a happy lift.