Food is one of the main things that brings us together. All of us have to eat to survive, and what we eat often says a lot about us. Food can be cultural, and it can tell a story. It can also be very personal. Yet despite all of the good stuff about food, there are certain types that some people just don't like. Maybe you have an issue with certain cooked vegetables, or maybe one bad experience at a specific chain restaurant made you swear it off forever.
And that's totally OK. Everyone is different and has different tastes. But one guy took it too far when he realized his girlfriend didn't like spicy foods.
A Redditor by the name of Siranchathrowaway123 posted on Reddit, and his story is more disturbing than you might think. While he seemingly had good intentions, he definitely crossed a line. Ten years older than his girlfriend, the 38-year-old stated that he's a big fan of spicy food.
The poster has been dating his girlfriend for two years. Unfortunately, they have one big incompatibility — she's not a big fan of spicy foods. "Even looking at a jalapeno from across the room is apparently enough to make her nose run," he wrote.
"I dealt with this for over a year because she is way out of my league, and relationships are all about compromise after all right?" he wrote. But then, 2020 hit. "I was furloughed and she was able to work from home so we decided what better time to try out living together than now? She moved into my place pretty quickly, split the bills and food 50-50 and it was working great."
"With her working 8 hours a day I had a lot of time to myself, so I took up the bulk of the chores to keep myself busy, including the cooking," he said. "I've cooked for her before on date nights, so it's not something completely new to us, but I'm very used to cooking for myself." In doing so, he added chili and sriracha to a specific dish, thinking nothing of it.
"Right up until she put the first mouthful in I didn't realize how spicy I had made it," he said. "She screamed and cried and accused me of doing it on purpose. She didn't talk to me for the rest of the night, resulting in me sleeping on the couch." While it seems like an accident, his next step is when things get dicey.
"Whilst trying to fall asleep, my mind wandered to trying to make her like spicy food, rather than either having to give up spice or cook 2 batches every meal," he wrote. "That's when it hit me, I could slowly introduce spice into her food until she built up a tolerance and then we could enjoy spicy foods together."
This is where things fall apart. Because the one thing that the poster failed to realize is that his girlfriend is an adult, and that tampering with other people's food is a great way to lose someone's trust. However, his plan seemed to be working at first.
"I did it gradually, and as she was busy she really appreciated me preparing the food for her," he said. "Small amounts at first went fine, but as I added more it would change the flavour or colour slightly. When that happened I would back off for a bit and say maybe it was a bad batch or something. I eventually found capsaicin extract that has all the heat but none of the flavour. Perfect."
It went so far that he actually bought supplies to get better at deceiving his girlfriend. "I continued my plan with new excitement and efficiency, I bought tiny syringes to get small amounts in food more accurately," he wrote. "Months of this continued with no suspicion."
But eventually, his experiment had to end. "My plan had to be working, so I got bold and made the same dinner that got me in trouble in the first place," he wrote. "I had to know. I served it up to her and she immediately asked whether I had made it spicy, to which I lied."
"Cue cries and screaming. I was dumbfounded," he said. "I asked her if it was less spicy than last time and she didn't see why that mattered. So I came clean and told her what I had done and why she shouldn't be mad because I had to test my theory." As expected, friends felt like it wasn't a good move on his part.
"It felt like innocent fun and like a game to me, keeping me entertained for these past few months," he concluded. "It's not that serious, its only spicy food. I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of it." But there's a big reason as to why it's a big deal.
And that's that he had no right to tamper with someone's food. People seem to do this often with people who have food allergies, just to "test" them — and it can become very dangerous. The majority of us have an ability to choose what we eat, and it's a very important choice to make.
As expected, Reddit lit up with responses. Most people felt like this was the worst kind of game to play. "That's called food tampering, and it's illegal," said IntrepidNectarine8. "It's no different from putting meat in a vegetarian's food and going 'what's the problem'? And you assume she doesn't have an allergy – big nono." It's also a big deal since he's pushing boundaries. If his girlfriend doesn't like spicy food, that's the way it is. Forcing her to eat it to make his life easier is controlling.
Redditor BroadElderberry said it best. "Trying to forcibly change your partner (especially without their knowledge) is never okay." Accidentally adding too much spice to one dish is one thing — but purposely measuring out spices without her knowing is just cruel. If anything, it shows that he doesn't respect her. And for that reason alone, this is a relationship she should consider walking away from.
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