A few years ago, I was eating a chocolate chip cookie and thought a piece of it had fallen on my shirt. Without further thought, I picked it up and popped it into my mouth. I quickly learned it was not even remotely close to a cookie crumb in texture or taste. The sensation began as a bitter crunch between my back teeth, but it was just getting started. In an instant, it exploded into a flood of liquid bile, coating my tongue and gums. I hope never to sample anything like it again.
I tried rinsing my mouth with water, spitting the water, along with the remains of the thing, into the kitchen sink, taking another bite of the cookie, more water…for several minutes nothing could mask the pungent aftertaste. My wife claimed I screamed on the way to the sink. You, dear reader, would too. Apparently, the foul smell of the creature when cracked open is closely related to its effect on human taste buds. Some things are not meant to be eaten, crispy or not, and the lowly Stink Bug is one of them, especially when you are expecting a chocolate morsel baked to sweet perfection.
Three thoughts came to mind. Thought 1: “Maybe I need new glasses.” Thought 2: “Maybe I should have looked more closely before tossing a living sample of nature’s repulsiveness into my unsuspecting mouth.” Thought 3: “Why did I assume it was a just a piece of the cookie?”
Thought 3 remains in my head. How many times do we assume something is what we want it to be? How often is that assumption based on insufficient evidence? I should have taken a closer look. I should have considered the fact that Stink Bugs had been sighted in our house that week, not to mention the lack of contrast between either a Stink Bug or a cookie fragment and my shirt. Sometimes vile things are innocently camouflaged…
Now, what can we learn from this unfortunate incident? If we act in haste, we might not like the results. I’m lucky it was just a Stink Bug. Sometimes our assumptions can cause us to make terrible decisions and face bitter consequences – literally. The old proverb, “Look before you leap,” comes to mind. Nothing can cover up the taste of a Stink Bug. Trust me on this. If we want a good outcome, we need to make sure we have good information and take a reasonable amount of time to decide what to do.
MurrayWorks 