Mark KennedyI bought a new car this week – a Ford.
This is unremarkable, of course, except that I’m 57 years old and this is the first American-brand car I’ve ever purchased, going all the way back to my first ride, a 1976 Datsun B-210 with honeycomb hubcaps.
If all the cars I’ve owned lined up for a parade it would look like this: Datsun, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Toyota, Toyota. (Full disclosure: I did own an Eagle Talon once, but it was essentially a rebranded Mitsubishi Eclipse.)
I recently read an article by a columnist in his 50s who admitted to being set in his ways. It’s a phrase that I’ve never thought to apply to myself, but there’s no denying I have been “set in my ways” when it comes to automobiles, holding onto my bias for Japanese cars across four decades.
I started pondering other examples of stuck-in-the-mud thinking that might be holding me back. When you get older, it takes a small act of courage to change even insignificant habits. Habits are like wet concrete, the longer they set the harder they are to bust up.
I tried to make an inventory of some of my long-held (and in some cases irrational) biases and how I might take at least a baby step in a new direction. I guess it’s my to effort to stave off the “angry old man” syndrome. As a father of young children, I’ll be in sad shape if I don’t stay adaptable.
So here goes.
‘ Irrational bias: The National League. I grew up an Atlanta Braves fan and had a brief flirtation with the Mets in the middle 1980s because pitcher Dwight Gooden and center fielder Mookie Wilson were stalwarts on my fantasy baseball team. I always pulled against the American League teams in All-Star games and the World Series, for no particular reason except force of habit.
‘ Solution: Root for the Houston Astros. The Astros, a former National League club now in the American League, are a team on the rise. This is a bandwagon with good seat stills available. By adopting the Astros I can buy a little stock in the American League without feeling like a complete turncoat.
‘ Irrational bias: White corn. I’m a big fan of white corn, cut off the cob with a paring knife and fried in butter in a cast iron skillet. To me, it has a richer, starchier taste than yellow corn.
‘ Solution: Yellow corn on the cob. I’ve decided to eat yellow corn as long as it stays attached to the cob and doesn’t try to impersonate white corn in a skillet.
‘ Irrational bias: Unsweetened tea. For some reason, oversweet tea has always made my nose wrinkle. To me, it tastes like liquefied cotton candy. With unsweetened, you can taste the actual tea flavor.
‘ Solution: Half and half. My wife has introduced me to this happy compromise. I get the taste of sugar without the syrupy aftertaste.
‘ Irrational bias: Middle Tennessee. As a native of Middle Tennessee, I’ve never been able to shake the perception that East Tennessee is different. I’ve lived here for 35 years, and love that it’s my wife’s and sons’ home, but I always feel a special kinship when I meet someone from the mid-state area.
‘ Solution: Monteagle. For me, Monteagle mountain marks the dividing line between Middle and East Tennessee. When I’m there, often for the town’s quaint Fourth of July celebration, I feel most comfortable, like I have a foot in both worlds.
‘ Irrational bias: Electric stove. I grew up in a home with an electric range and I’ve never been able to switch to gas. I know good cooks who swear by gas ranges, but I could never pull the trigger.
‘ Solution: Propane grill. By barbecuing on a propane grill, I get the advantages of gas-fired cooking without worrying about indoor gas.
‘ Irrational bias: Cashmere. I decided a few years ago to only acquire cashmere sports coats. It goes hand in hand with my general bias toward quality over quantity. The problem is that wool is nearly intolerable in Deep South summers, which means I must go coatless for much of July and August.
‘ Solution: Seersucker. Seersucker is classic material, yet it knows its place in the closet as a summer-only garment. A seersucker sport coat doesn’t get its feelings hurt if you abandon it from Labor Day until Memorial Day. In other words, seersucker has good mental health.
‘ Irrational bias: Pittsburgh Steelers. I’m a Steelers fan through and through, without apology.
‘ Solution: None. Some biases become so ingrained that they become part of your personality. To abandon them is to forget who you are.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645. Follow him on Twitter @TFPCOLUMNIST. Subscribe to his Facebook updates at www.facebook.com/mkennedycolumnist.