" Remember the 1980s ad for Wrigley's Doublemint, set in a restaurant, in which Girl A, speculating about where the boys might be taking them tonight, asks Girl B whether her hair looks okay? Girl B responds that if she were Girl A she'd be less worried about her hair than her onion breath. Why didn't Girl A gently put down her fork and punch Girl B on the nose? And why was Girl B so worried about Girl A's breath, when Girl A was having the skimpiest salad, of which the onions formed part, for her main course? Was this why they were eating before they met the boys? Because Girl A and Girl B were locked in a toxic cycle of narcissistic and mutually destructive sexual competitiveness? Far from encouraging me to buy gum, it instilled in me a determination to date boys in front of whom I could eat the most lingeringly pungent foods. If he still fancied me after an onion-bhaji-scented kiss, with a trailing after-note of minty raita, I would have found my match. See also Chili & Mint, page 196."
~ The Flavor Thesaurus (99)
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