Thursday, February 7, 2008

I am not Vanilla...



Vanilla. It's a staple in the realm of flavors. And although I think there is a time and place for vanilla (in the confines of two sticky and delicious, mushy ice cream sandwich cookies, for example), I've realized that vanilla says a lot about the person ordering it---especially when given a choice between other, more colorful or interesting flavors.

So what brings me to question one's choice in a flavor? (More important, why is this relevant to the job hunt?) I attended a luncheon today, arranged by the big boss of my current workplace. He wanted to thank us for being his "family" of sorts. After a hearty lunch of salad, breadsticks and an all-you-can-eat, design-your-own, cooked-to-order pasta bar (suddenly I find myself on a hyphenated adjective kick...go figure), the waitress kindly reminded us that it was time for ice cream.

Normally this would have made me jump for joy (especially since, in addition to a salad and pasta bar, the club also had a sundae bar), but I made a New Year's resolution to eat better. I figured I would pass on the opportunity and eat vicariously through my coworkers. Fortunately for me, however, the waitress listed four flavors of frozen deliciousness to enjoy: vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, and raspberry sorbet.

Sorbet! Yes! Less fat, refreshing, and a bit exotic. That sweet tartness of raspberries served up in a frothy, icy ball. Perfect. The waitress went around the table taking our orders.

"Raspberry sorbet, please," I smiled.

The next few seconds played out like a skipping record, one by one my coworkers ordered:

"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
"Vanilla."
And finally....
"Vanilla."

At that moment I had another one of my epiphanies: I was surrounded by a tableful of "Vanillas." It went beyond ice cream at that point.

I dove into full, psychological evaluation mode.

What did their choices say about them? Well, vanilla is comfortable, plain, and ordinary. It isn't dressed up or unique. The only way to give it pizzazz is to cover it with flavored syrup or sprinkles. To make vanilla stand out, you have to cover it up with bells and whistles.

I am not vanilla.

I'm not necessarily raspberry sorbet either, but it was my only option at the time. If anything, I'm a bright pink bubble gum: sweet, surprising, and fun or margarita ice: tart, zesty, and out of the ordinary.

What I'm saying is that in that moment, I realized that I was surrounded by a group of people content with where they are at in their careers. People seemingly afraid to step out of the line and dare to be a little different.

That's just not me. I have some pretty great dreams, and they're not vanilla. They're flavorful and bright and positively delicious. The same holds true for who I am. I'm different. I want to stand out and be noticed. I don't want to stand in line waiting for things to happen, I want to get out there and do those things. I want to get to a different place than where that long line is leading.

I'm not saying that I'm an oddball (at least not ALWAYS...), it's not like I'd try too hard and declare myself some form of flavor-overkill like Head Cheese - Anchovy Triple Cod Liver Oil and Fudge swirl. That would just be presumptuous.

I'm unique, but not weird.

Besides, if you have to de-bone any part of your ice cream, I'd suggest passing on that particular flavor...just don't settle for vanilla.

4 comments:

D_Doub said...

Ironically, I order vanilla simply because I love vanilla ice cream. I feel that vanilla is the only flavor that compliments the cream in a good semi-melted bowl of ice cream.

I feel that if I wanted chocolate, I would just have chocolate, or if I wanted strawberries, I would eat fresh strawberries.

But when I'm craving vanilla.... I can't just go chew on a vanilla bean or down a bottle of extract. So when I goto an ice cream/gelato shop, I judge it by how good their vanilla taste.

(nice blog by the way.) you've got a new fan.

Tiff said...

Thanks David. :) It's been a while since I've updated (job searching will do that to a person). But I will have a new post up within the week! :)

-T.

Ludovica said...

I don't *get* vanilla either, but I'm not sure I'm as sophisticated as raspberry sorbet either. I'm sure I'd have picked cimmamon because I've never heard of that one before. Otherwise I'd be chocolate, but then I'd worry that would appear too infantile and stress out about the impression I was making. I bet you anything that the rest of those people suffered the same internal dilemma on some deep level. Vanilla is conservative and "grown up" and I bet you anything that was a factor in the choices

Anonymous said...

very nice post Thank you!