My husband is a foodie. He loves eating new things and trying different kinds of food. I am not a foodie. I have a plain palette and I like to know what I am eating. You can imagine the challenges this difference may create. There are times when we greatly agree on something good. Cucumber salad with sesame seeds is one of those times. When we order it we know exactly what it is going to taste like. When it arrives it is like seeing an old friend arrive in a ramekin; it is just what we wanted.
Sometimes people need that same sense of comfort and familiarity from us. They need to know that when they interact with us they are getting the friend or companion they know and trust. When they talk with us they will hear what they need, not just what they want. They will feel a sense of belonging as if all is right with the world. With all the craziness in life, people need to know people who are what they say they are. No drama, no surprises, no wild changes or fanatical zaniness, they need to know that there are people who will be what they need them to be.
Sometimes we need truth, plain and simple. Sometimes we need accountability clear and concise. Sometimes we need a hug, or a stiff drink, or maybe even a warm cookie and ice cream. People need to know that there are things in life they can count on. In an overscheduled, packed, pressured and overindulgent world we all need people in our lives that are like cucumber salad, they are what we expected every time we meet. Never underestimate the power of familiarity in both character and substance. Each of us knows a cucumber salad person, and we call on them when we need the comfort and knowledge of self that they provide.
Call your cucumber salad friend and invite them to lunch. Let them just be your friend to remind you that there are people you can count on no matter what is happening in your own world. Maybe you are someone’s cucumber salad friend, and they need to be with you soon. So lunch it is…order a salad and just be you.
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