Opinions on "Horseradish"

     While reading the book, "Maps to Anywhere," I've read a few essays that I truly enjoyed. One of them that stands out the most is the essay, "Horseradish." This essay calls to me more than the others because I can relate with it. The essay shows the satisfying, bittersweet moment of pleasure and pain. This dynamic duo is the sensations someone feels when they eat something super spicy. I am a big fan of this and so is the majority of my family. If I could replace the essay with my own words, the essays would be almost the same. The "moral" or main point of the story is relate-able as well as interesting.
      One of my favorite things about this creative essay is the details. The details of the steps that the father is going through as he took a tiny bite of horseradish was so realistic, I could taste the bittersweet satisfaction in my own mouth. Even at the part where he tries to suck on the ice cube was relate-able, and it is even more when he knows that the solution was futile. My mother and I are like that too. We absolutely love to eat spice things, even if it makes our heads go through the roof because of the heat. Tasting something that is super hot and good is almost like an addiction. Once you've tried it and had the big dopamine dump, your taste buds crave more. Then the part of your mind that is susceptible to addiction craves more and sends you on a search for more spicy foods and condiments. Once you're hooked, you don't care what the consequences are. The part where the father's doctor even tells him to avoid spicy foods, but he still occasionally breaks that rule with eating a dollop of horseradish. Then as a consequence, he is buckling over in pain and the son has to take him to the emergency room.
      The father realizes that he cannot live on the edge and bend his doctor's rules anymore, so he fulfills the rush with pranking others, such as the waitress. I think that's where the main point comes in. You can only bend the rules so much before it comes back to hurt you. So you have to settle with something that gives you the same satisfaction, but it has to be less harmful. The best pleasure can come back with worse pain. The combination can be bittersweet in different ways, and we must see that and be cautious of it. If there is continuation of the combo, there can be some consequences. So once that happens, a new combination must be found and to be used instead. In the end, it was bittersweet for the father to experience the sensations from the horseradish and it was bittersweet for him to stop eating it for his sake.
      Overall, I really enjoyed this creative essay and the message behind it. The author made the content very relate-able, as well as like-able. I think any reader who falls upon this story will enjoy it as much as I did. We all have something that is bittersweet to us. Whether it is a small amount of horseradish or something else. It is a great essay to share with others, as well as a good example for writers who are having trouble with composing their creative essay. The details is so descriptive that it makes the content very realistic. We all have some type of addiction, whether it is good or bad, and we must be able to know when it is unhealthy for us and need to let it go.