SCOTT LUDWIG: Acquired tastes

I’ve been told that drinking beer is an acquired taste.

I tend to agree, but I can tell you from personal experience that it’s probably best not to try and acquire it all in one night.

Without an acquired taste for beer, I would never have developed a similar one for oysters. I would never have intentionally ingested a raw, slimy glob of gelatinous salt-water mucus without consuming a pint or two of liquid courage first. Today, I will go out of my way for a dozen oysters, some Saltine crackers, and a splash or two of cocktail sauce – all because of beer.

Thinking back to when I started running, I didn’t particularly enjoy it at first. After all, there were lots of other ways to spend my free time that weren’t quite so strenuous. Drinking beer and eating oysters, for example. But in time, running sort of grew on me, and I began looking forward to spending an hour or two each day enjoying the fresh air and a little time to myself. Shedding a pound or 50 along the way didn’t hurt either.

Some people consider professional wrestling an acquired taste, although for me personally it was love at first sight. Then again, that was back when wrestling was real — before it evolved into the scripted, choreographed entertainment that it is today.

The point I’m trying to make is that your life is formed by trying new things. How are you ever going to know how you feel about something if you never give it a chance? Almost everything in life you enjoy and/or appreciate could be considered an acquired taste if you think about it.

Some things aren’t meant for everyone, but we wouldn’t know what they were if we never gave them a chance. I can’t possibly list all of the things I’ve tried in my life. In my estimation, most worked out for the best. Others, however, not so much.

· Watching soccer, for instance. I don’t know why Europeans love it so much; maybe it has something to do with the metric system.

· Listening to country music is another. And I really, really tried during the Urban Cowboy years. Sorry, it just didn’t stick. (Long live rock and roll.)

· Eating fruitcake. I imagine most people wouldn’t consider one bite an honest effort, but that’s all I could stomach – although, technically, that bite never made it to my stomach.

· Chewing tobacco. Even though I tried the wintergreen flavor – and the taste reminded me of the wax lips I used to enjoy on Halloweens long, long ago – it was still, well, pretty revolting. (Don’t believe me? See: spit jar.)

But whether things worked out or not, I gave them all a fair shot — with the possible exception of fruitcake, although I’m probably not alone here.

Had I not ventured into “the great unknown,” who knows how my life might have turned out? Without “trying it on for size,” so to speak:

· I would have never set foot on a dance floor that first time in eighth grade, then taken disco lessons with my wife a decade later – leading to many years of us shaking our groove things back when we could stay up a lot later than we can stay up now.

· I would have never overcome my fear of heights and boarded my first airplane, a decision that would ultimately save me Lord-knows-how-many-hours sitting behind the wheel of a car — or worse, sailing on a ship — to travel to destinations far, far away.

· I would have never read that first book authored by Pat Conroy, only to discover I’d been missing out on who would be one of my favorite writers. Then, over the next six months, devour everything this magnificent author from South Carolina had ever written.

Looking back at it now, I can’t imagine my life without dancing, flying, and the inspiration from Pat Conroy that makes me want to write every day – each day a little bit better than the day before.

I love beer. I love oysters. I love running. I love professional wrestling – at least back when it was real. I love disco dancing – even if performing a floor dip with Cindy is now out of the question. I love flying, although it’s really because I hate driving cars really long distances even more. I love to be inspired by the words of Pat Conroy, again and again.

Regardless of what I call the things I enjoy and/or appreciate most – hobbies, passions, interests, personal favorites – I would never have experienced any of them if I hadn’t given them a chance.

A chance for them to become acquired tastes.