We adopted a quote that my nephew Eric said when he was about 7 years old and it's become a famous line in our household! When Eric was visiting us in Seattle his mom, Lisa, and I took the kids to the Space Needle and rode the monorail right to a new food court. The great thing about a food court with little kids; everyone can order whatever they want!
It was an easy choice for Eric. He ordered a Corn Dog from the Hot Dog on a Stick stand. Lisa had warned us that Corn Dogs were currently Eric's staple food! It was pretty much all Eric wanted to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! And Lisa was a little tired of the lack of variety in his diet.
So when Eric was still hungry and wanted to order another Corn Dog; his mom balked! "Eric, choose something else," Lisa pleaded. "This place has everything: pasta, burritos, chinese food. Can't you please pick anything else?" Eric carefully thought it through and finally settled on ordering....a Cheese Dog (also from Hot Dog on a Stick).
So, as Eric happily ate his Cheese Dog we gave him a hard time over his selection. To the rest of us, it looked identical to the Corn Dog! But not to Eric! When we said, "Wow, Eric, from a Corn Dog to a Cheese Dog! Way to shake it up!" Eric just smiled and said: "Well, you've got to try new things sometimes!"
And that began the famous line that we use on each other whenever we want someone to branch out (even if it's an incremental change like Eric's). The quote has served us well! Because even when it isn't exactly our preference, sometimes... you've just gotta try new things!
