We all have those things. Those restaurants, those shampoos, those brands that are better than every other type of restaurant, shampoo, or brand out there. Ever. Ever made or that ever will be made. That taco place in Lilburn has THE BEST OMG TACOS on the planet and there aren´t any better tacos anywhere on the planet PERIOD. They are delicious. And scrumptous. And every time you get a taco, you mentally, or even verbally, compare the taco from whatever rundown hellhole you are at to that shining beacon, that city on a hill, that place where the angel Gabriel came to Abraham and said, "I give thee: TACOS. And you will know my name is THE LORD when you taste the tacos the Lord has laid upon thee!"
I get it, you get it, we all get it. We will defend these things until we get bored.
We can't help it. I literally don't think we can. That first taco, that first shampoo (Herbal Essences, baby), that first whateverohitdoesn'tmatter, set the impression in your head. It set, in your head, what a taco should be. And, as I said, every taco henceforth shall be compared to the original. Even if the original was, in reality, shitty, you still think it is the best. It took you to a new place. And other tacos, afterward, still won't measure up.
We all know, logically, that it's highly unlikely, highly improbable, that the first of anything we try will be the best. But that's a tough battle to fight psychologically.
Part of the reason they feel the best is because they remind us of home. We most likely tried them when we were young, at our most vulnerable, only seeking security. They may be good, but tie them such a deep feeling as the need and want to be feel safe and secure at home and it becomes very difficult to replace that thing with something new. It only makes sense. Who wants to disrupt their sense of security, of home? Our psyche is only protecting us.
Why is this going on my travel blog? Two reasons: brands here, in Buenos Aires. I'll allow this to be my comparison for now since I haven't gone many other places. Of course in Buenos Aires you'll find plenty of brands from the US: McDonalds, Burger King, Dove Shampoo/Body Wash/Whathaveyou, Axe Body Spray (we coulda left that at home, America). But there are other brands, other brands that either I haven't seen in the US or that don't exist there. In fact, I'm using a shampoo right now made by Unilever that I haven't seen in the US. But we all know my penchant for Bath & Body Works shampoo and conditioner. Good bang for your buck. Not too pricey and just look at my hair. Look at it. No, you haven't seen better hair, shut up. But the shampoo I'm using now. I wasn't used to it. So I took "a chance". I say that because most shampoo I imagine, especially since I was buying it in a big pharmacy chain in BA, is going to clean my hair reasonably well. And, as it turns out, the shampoo (actually shampoo/conditioner, it´s a 2 in 1. You learn to consolidate when you're traveling) does a damn good job.
So now I have to reconsider my whole life. I found a brand I'd never used before, never even heard of, though it was bolstered by the big pharmacy chain brands and of course by Unilever, and it worked!
My fellow humans, my point in all of this is to say, fight your first loves. Question them, and often. Are those really the best? They feel the best. But they are not your masters. Good loves want you to move on, to get better, to grow. So, go, try. And be honest. Is whatever you just tried good or bad in absence of what you consider "the best"? Sometimes, yes, that taco will just be shitty. But sometimes it will surprise you.
I get it, you get it, we all get it. We will defend these things until we get bored.
We can't help it. I literally don't think we can. That first taco, that first shampoo (Herbal Essences, baby), that first whateverohitdoesn'tmatter, set the impression in your head. It set, in your head, what a taco should be. And, as I said, every taco henceforth shall be compared to the original. Even if the original was, in reality, shitty, you still think it is the best. It took you to a new place. And other tacos, afterward, still won't measure up.
We all know, logically, that it's highly unlikely, highly improbable, that the first of anything we try will be the best. But that's a tough battle to fight psychologically.
Part of the reason they feel the best is because they remind us of home. We most likely tried them when we were young, at our most vulnerable, only seeking security. They may be good, but tie them such a deep feeling as the need and want to be feel safe and secure at home and it becomes very difficult to replace that thing with something new. It only makes sense. Who wants to disrupt their sense of security, of home? Our psyche is only protecting us.
Why is this going on my travel blog? Two reasons: brands here, in Buenos Aires. I'll allow this to be my comparison for now since I haven't gone many other places. Of course in Buenos Aires you'll find plenty of brands from the US: McDonalds, Burger King, Dove Shampoo/Body Wash/Whathaveyou, Axe Body Spray (we coulda left that at home, America). But there are other brands, other brands that either I haven't seen in the US or that don't exist there. In fact, I'm using a shampoo right now made by Unilever that I haven't seen in the US. But we all know my penchant for Bath & Body Works shampoo and conditioner. Good bang for your buck. Not too pricey and just look at my hair. Look at it. No, you haven't seen better hair, shut up. But the shampoo I'm using now. I wasn't used to it. So I took "a chance". I say that because most shampoo I imagine, especially since I was buying it in a big pharmacy chain in BA, is going to clean my hair reasonably well. And, as it turns out, the shampoo (actually shampoo/conditioner, it´s a 2 in 1. You learn to consolidate when you're traveling) does a damn good job.
So now I have to reconsider my whole life. I found a brand I'd never used before, never even heard of, though it was bolstered by the big pharmacy chain brands and of course by Unilever, and it worked!
My fellow humans, my point in all of this is to say, fight your first loves. Question them, and often. Are those really the best? They feel the best. But they are not your masters. Good loves want you to move on, to get better, to grow. So, go, try. And be honest. Is whatever you just tried good or bad in absence of what you consider "the best"? Sometimes, yes, that taco will just be shitty. But sometimes it will surprise you.
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