6 days Ago
Dear Prudence is Slate's advice column. Submit questions here. Dear Prudence, Eight years ago, my partner and I bought our first home together in one of the few affordable neighborhoods left in our (blue) city in a (mostly red) state.
We love to cook, and over the years, we enjoyed learning from our neighbors' traditional cuisines and sharing ours. I will be the first to admit that I am prejudiced against MAGA folks. And I guess our brand-new neighbors are fairly low-key (bumper stickers rather than MAGA hats and Confederate flags).
We made our introductions to "Michael" and "Cheyla." It was pretty cordial for about two weeks. Then the complaints (always from Michael—Cheyla is apparently too delicate to voice her feelings—yep, I'm judging it) started coming in about "smells" and "noise" from our backyard during weekly (over by 9 p.
m. at the latest, we're OLD) cookouts. I took reasonable steps (moved music indoors to keep voices down, moved my small compost heap to the far side of the yard, etc.
) But Michael's newest complaint is that even cooking in our kitchen is making Cheyla sick. According to him, she's "allergic to alliums" and the onions, garlic, and shallots that we use regularly are giving her digestive issues. I read up on allium allergies, and I suspect that what she's "allergic" to is the presence of people who don't look like her in her new neighborhood.
But even giving them the benefit of the doubt: They need to reinforce their home, right? I mean, we can't realistically be expected to cook differently to appease a new neighbor? —Flavor Racists Next Door Dear Flavor Racists Next Door, Repeat after me: "I'm sorry to hear that, but we aren't going to be able to change the way we cook." You're in too deep thinking about who your neighbors are, why they are the way they are, and what they should do. The changes they need to make to their home, the reasons behind Cheyla's "delicate" behavior, and whether their alleged scent sensitivity has racist.
.. Jenée Desmond-Harris.
