Comments on: The road to hell is paved with clams

By: sybaritica

sybaritica — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:54:17 +0000

Sympathies… I hope it doesn’t turn you off completely I haven’t had the opportunity for steamed clams since, but I’ve had lots of mussels, and you can bet I’ve left the closed ones on the side of the plate. –AZM

By: David Zucker

David Zucker — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:00:22 +0000

well, i wouldn’t moralize too much about your Clam Incident, even though you are droll about it. There is a ton of stuff we shouldn’t eat — a bad apple, so to speak, anything left in the fridge too long– but the pleasure principle usually outweighs bio red flags. Part of being human is to take such chances and fly the Pleasure Flag, even though wisdom says not to. The pleasure principle also tells me to avoid food poisoning. No amount of clams in white wine and garlic is worth two days in the grip of . . . well, I won’t be disgusting and describe the experience. We’ve all been there.

By: Kimc

Kimc — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 02:17:50 +0000

Very lucky. what they say about food poisoning is “it doesn’t kill you, but you wish it would.”

By: Larry Stauber

Larry Stauber — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 01:57:48 +0000

You are very, very lucky. I got severe food poisoning and was miserable for three days — three days without food or water (trying to swallow anything made me retch horribly) — alone and without access to medical help. On the third day, when I realized I wasn’t going to die, I was actually disappointed! But then, suddenly, it passed and I’m here to write this. But I’ll never forget and will never make the same mistake again. Now, I won’t even touch sushi. How awful! Glad you decided to live. I don’t think anything could induce me to give up sushi, but the association between a food and a bad bout of sickness can put a person off the food for life, even when the one had nothing to do with the other. I went into labor a few hours after a meal at a favorite sushi place, and a common effect of early labor is to lose whatever you’ve eaten. It would have put me off sushi and even miso soup, except that the joyful association (my last meal before my baby arrived!) was powerful enough to overcome the memory. –AZM

By: sorrygnat

sorrygnat — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:37:30 +0000

This is in a book entitled What Being Human Means? I don't think I'm following you, Esther. Say more.