Does this pass the smell test?
Whether it’s a Tinder profile or week-old food, some things are hard to swallow
This week’s Simply Slaw will try to be tasteful, even as we hear about rancid food, stale conversations, raw fabrications, deadly habits and overcooked politics. Bon appétit.
Murphy Slaw
Something old: The headline pretty well explains it. This Washington Post quiz can be great for someone reasonably healthy and with a moderate tolerance for risk, rather than just automatically dumping stuff that isn’t perfectly fresh.
Something new: Outside of politics, nothing stretches the truth quite as far as a dating profile.
Something borrowed: “I was at a dinner party attended by 10 people,” a reader wrote to advice columnist Carolyn Hax. “When the conversation turned to politics, one of the guests was insistent that she had heard enough that day. We are all nice people and didn’t want to cause her discomfort, so we censored ourselves. But afterward, I became resentful, thinking she didn’t have the right to dictate the subject of conversation.”
Hax offers good advice, as always, but Letter Writer’s word choice makes me wonder if we’re in the hands of an unreliable narrator. Maybe the woman spoke up because she was sick of two or three blowhards pontificating about politics every time the group met. We’ll never know.
If you’re in a group of that size with a central discussion, see yourself as the unofficial moderator. If the conversation is smooth and everyone is having fun, do what a good moderator does: Go with the flow and stay out of the way. But if you see a dinghy of introverts adrift in a typhoon of blather, look for ways to change the subject or help them get a word in.
And make sure you’re not the one causing whitecaps on the water glasses. Some monologues feel like they go from beer to eternity, and even nonpolitical conversations (sports, parenting, work) can feel tedious if only two people care.
If someone tries to veto a timely topic and you feel as royally oppressed as Letter Writer, suggest a compromise: “What if we talk about it for just five minutes? You can even hold the stopwatch.” Or save the subject for after-dinner drinks, with those interested shifting to the bar if that’s practical.
Something blue: This New York Times story offers details about fresh research that identifies 17 overlapping factors that affect the risk of stroke, dementia and depression — and how changing your lifestyle can improve the odds.
Something racial: Two recent off-the-field football happenings put the spotlight on race — fairly or unfairly. Many players and coaches from the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles visited the White House, whose occupant-in-chief doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation when it comes to race relations.
On “Laura Coates Live,” longtime sports journalist Jemele Hill and retired NFL player Donte Stallworth talk about the risks and rewards for those Eagles who chose to attend — and those who didn’t.
They also talk about whether racism was to blame for so many teams not drafting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the son of longtime superstar Deion Sanders. Spoiler alert: More likely it was because of someone coming out of college with an inflated ego, a hazard for all races and sexes and fields.
A superstar like Deion can make employers grovel. But if you’re a mere star and you expect superstar treatment, you might hear more growling than groveling.