Five of One Hundred Things

I don't do pot lucks - particularly the work kind.

My department had a Thanksgiving Pot Luck today and as I usually do I chose not to participate.  There are a number of reasons why I don't participate in these things and they might seem a little crazy but all of them make perfectly clear sense to me.  So here are my reasons:

1.  I am allergic to so many things (see Everything But Water entry) and it's just too much trouble to pick through what I can and cannot eat while meandering down the file cabinet piled with the mis-matched food options.

2.  Occasionally I have been known to eat certain foods together that you might not normally match up - though now that I think of it, it's mostly my problem with putting ketchup on things.  But that's another story.  When I see a tray of lasagne sitting next to mashed potatos next to greenbean cassarole next to tortilla chips and salsa next to pumpkin pie next to rice pilaf next to ham next to bundt cake... well... come on, you know you're just as grossed out as I am.   How in the world can anyone not think this is a stomach ache waiting to happen.  Particularly when you think that it's been sitting around being picked at all day.  Not to mentnion the aroma of spinach and broccoli after a couple of hours out in the open is just lovely.

3.  Hmm, how can I say this tactfully... I don't think there's any way to say it other than this.  I have no idea what these people's kitchens look like. For all I know someone could have their cat running up and down their kitchen counters licking spoons while they cook.  Or a number of other things that are just too horrible to contemplate.  I've seen the not-so-sanitary things people have done at their desks in front of other people without thinking twice so I don't even want to think about what they're doing in the privacy of their own homes.  

4.  And lastly and by far the very best reason why not to participate in the pot luck festivities is... NO ONE EVER BRINGS ANY POT!!!!

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