On Olives

"Do you like olives, R?" "Um. Yeah--i mean--i kind--of... I like the fancy ones? But not the ones in Jars? Or maybe i like the ones in jars but not in cans? But i really like the ones i like..." ___ After 23 years of not liking olives, my aunt exposed me to something called an 'olive bar.' That of course, being a buffet of fancy olives of different earth tones, to be combined in some kind of deli container, and charged at a higher price than you'd like to pay, but not as high as you'd pay if you knew how good they'd taste (which, of course, my aunt did). I wondered to myself, how is it that i love 'olives' but hate 'olives.' I get that a green olive and a black olive taste differently (do they? i kind of always stayed away from both), but i always hated them both... until they were sold in an 'olive bar.' Am i an olive snob? I have never really considered myself a food snob, and i'm not crazy enough about olives to define myself by the way i feel about them... Until i discovered... today... In case you've been wondering too... Brine. and Oil. ___ "Hey R, do you like olives?" "Yeah--love if they're in oil, but can't really do the ones packed in brine. I guess it's a tecture thing."