Did you ever notice how different foods elicit different responses from people when you offer to share them at work? For instance, I offered some co-workers a scoop of my perfectly delicious-looking homemade casserole for lunch once and every single one of them declined. In fact, if I ran this study over the course of a couple months, I bet nine out of ten people would decline every time I offer them any type of main course item. Even if they were hungry and hadn’t brought any lunch for themselves. There’s something about a dinner item that sets off alarm bells in a recipient’s mind that makes them think very carefully before accepting.
Contrarily, if I offer someone a homemade chocolate chip cookie, eight out of ten people would accept. When you offer, you can see the gears turn in their mind but ultimately, they say “OK. Let me have one of those.” They’ll be even quicker to accept the free cookie if it’s packaged in a nice tidy Ziploc bag. Seems more sanitarily transported that way, I guess. (There are some who decline any snack item to project the illusion that they are always dieting – they’ll still take one if you leave them out on the counter. This counts them as one of the eight people in ten who’d accept.)
I mean, what’s wrong with my casserole? It could be a delicious batch of Mexican enchiladas just brimming with tasty goodness but most people won’t take any if you offer. Do people think that you were already eating out of the dish beforehand? That you left the main casserole out all night the previous night and it could now be roiling with salmonella? I don’t know.
With desserts, it seems people throw caution to the wind. I mean, I could have prepared the entire batch of cookies in the nude. Would they care? I don’t think so. It might cross their minds when they consider, but it won’t prohibit them from taking a cookie. It’s like sugar kills germs. The percentages drop if you offer homemade items not in a nice baggy or other protective item. If I had two homemade cookies in my perfectly clean bare hand, I bet the possibilities of someone taking one drop to 50/50. But still, half would take a cookie.
Homemade pizza leftover slice? No one would touch it. Chili? Maybe one or two over a long period of time, but still barely anyone. Homemade caramel corn? Yeah, they’ll take a scoop.
In their defense, I think everyone runs a quick computer program in their mind when presented with a homemade item from a co-worker. Before accepting, you can see the hamster wheel spin up as they think, “OK. This offer of free food is coming from Bill. Bill has a wife who seems pretty well-kept, so she’s probably reasonably sanitary. I’m sure she made this item. Bill’s too lazy to cook. I bet she put everything away right away once the cookies were cool. I’m sure these are fine. That’s probably a fresh Ziploc bag… ‘Sure, I’ll take one!'” But, if the computer program brings back different results like, “Lemme see, this offer of free cookies is coming from Marty. I think I saw him walk out of the restroom without washing his hands once about three years ago. He had a booger once too. And, I’m not positive that his clothes get washed between wearings… The heat of the oven kills germs, right? I think they still might be OK…”
It’s not a perfect situation. A lot of considering goes on when you’re put on the spot and asked if you want to try someone’s homemade food. I get it. It just seems people roll the dice and take a chance when it’s a sweet treat. Not so much when it’s a main course item. Peculiar but consistent results. Try it yourself to see if your mileage varies.
