"I Feel Like I Have to Eat It All" — Man Asks Folks What Meal Traumatized Them as Kids
Published Aug. 31 2023, 5:31 p.m. ET
It’s no secret that social media is a place where folks can come together to build community and share their likeness and opinions on a wide range of topics. Folks have developed relationships for their mutual disgust of everything from certain beliefs to dating faux pas. Not to mention, folks have also banded together to support one another through their times of need.
One of the best things about social media is when folks come together through nostalgia. It’s become standard for folks to share experiences they’ve endured in high school, old fashion trends, and more. So, when one man asked folks on TikTok about a meal that traumatized them as a kid, it was quite entertaining, and comedic. Here’s the full rundown.
An influencer asks TikTok users what was a meal that traumatized them as a child.
Let's take a look back at our childhood! In an Aug. 30, 2023, TikTok video, creator Kevonstage (@Kevonstagetiktok) shared a video where he asked folks what meal traumatized them as a kid.
“Now, I’ll give you three that I really didn’t like,” Kev said. “Number one, Tuna Helper. Hamburger Helper I could do, you know, cheeseburger mac, OK meat and cheese, I get it. But, Tuna Helper just felt more impoverished.”
“Tampico was not a delicious juice, but I had to drink it and it never really got cold,” Kev shared. “And Manwich. I hated Manwich when I first had it as a kid, but I ended up loving it. And that’s what the trauma was.“
Kev explained that “having to eat things you didn’t like and then having to eat it all” was such a traumatic experience for kids.
“That’s my trauma. Because now as an adult, if I don’t like something, then I still feel like I have to eat it,” Kev said. “If I’m eating something, I feel like I have to eat it all, and I don’t have to anymore. But, in poverty, you don’t really have a choice in what you eat and you don’t have a choice in how much you eat. And now that I have a choice, I still feel wrong. So now, I be like, ‘OK, I’m full, but I should just eat all of that.' But, I don’t have to.”
TikTok users mirrored Kev’s sentiments and shared the meals that gave them immediate pause as children.
Although the food we eat typically depends on culture and proximity, a lot of people in the comments have many foods in common that gave them pause as children.
Surprisingly, Manwich was a popular food that many users despised while growing up. (However, some folks enjoyed the meal: “Manwich was the bomb growing up. Add in BBQ sauce and onions with mustard on the buns,” one person shared.)
Interestingly, other folks shared that they loathe liver and onions, Spam meat, and Ramen noodles.
“Liver and onions and Spam. I still to this day refuse to eat it,” one person said.
“I was not expecting liver and onions to show up in the comments but same! I refused to eat it,” another person said.
“Liver. My aunt tried to make me eat it and said I couldn’t get up until I did. I slept at the table,” another user revealed.
With all the folks sharing the meals that they disliked as a child, it was clear that Kev’s point hit home with a lot of people. The trauma we had with food has impacted the relationship we have with it in our adulthood.
It’s OK to not enjoy having a meal. And while we didn’t have much choice as a child, we have the autonomy as adults to make positive decisions with food.
