Is she smelling her food? Because I smell my food too.
It is always interesting when I start working or hanging out with new people and they notice this quirk about me. It is a behaviour I have done most of my life. So much so, I don’t even notice until someone has caught me and has a look of wonder on their face.
What is she doing?
I am sensitive to varying tastes in my food and anything that smells the slightest bit off is banned from going in my mouth. You cannot convince me the food is safe. Here’s what I’ve learned: if the food item smells acceptable, then that serves as the go-ahead for me to eat. It is the signal that reinforcement in the form of “good taste” is likely. On the other hand, if the food smells kinda funky, I don’t eat it. Here, it signals that punishment in the form of bad taste (or worse) is likely.
Smelling my food is a survival behaviour that has been finely tuned and reinforced over the years. No offence intended to the many wonderful cooks in my life!
