Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
The implication is that old dogs (and old people) learn less well than the young, and that old folks are set in their ways. It’s one of the oldest proverbial sayings in the language. The earliest example of it in print is in John Fitzherbert’s The Boke of Husbandry, 1534:
…and he [a shepherd] muste teche his dogge to barke whan he wolde haue hym, to ronne whan he wold haue hym, and to leue ronning whan he wolde haue hym; or els he is not a cunninge shepeherd. The dogge must lerne it, whan he is a whelpe, or els it will not be: for it is harde to make an olde dogge to stoupe.
I don’t expect you to understand any of that except, but it isn’t true. You can teach an old dog new tricks.
Which brings me to sushi
For years the husband has turned his nose at sushi. Who knows why. Even he couldn’t explain it why he shuddered at the thought of it. Oddly, he enjoys all kinds of seafood. Even super slimy oysters or chewy clams.
Not only that, he never misses the tuna fishing show, Wicked Tuna, on National Geographic. Every Sunday evening. He knows the names of the captains and their mates, who is top on the leader board, and where in the Outer Banks they fish. He gets a kick out of predicting how much money Reely Buggin’ is going to get for a 545 pound tuna, and he knows the best fish go ASAP to Japan.
He loves tuna casserole.
So what’s up with sushi?
Whenever my teenaged granddaughter comes to visit, we walk to Sumo Sushi for lunch. The last time we visited, among our usual favorites, we ordered a Rising Sun Roll, which has baked scallop and kani crab. I snapped a picture.
Then I told the husband how good it was. I showed him the picture. Scallops. Shrimp. Yum. He admitted it looked really good:
I had a plan
Then a week later, I asked him if he wanted to get carry out lunch and offered to pick it up. First I showed him a menu from a place he doesn’t particularly get excited about. After he grumbled a little, I said, “Oh, hey, what about sushi? We can get that scallop roll I showed you.”
He liked that idea.
And guess what? He enjoyed it. He tried and ate everything, from the tempura fried Three Musketeers Roll to the Tiger Roll with shrimp and avocado, and especially the Rising Sun Roll. He really enjoyed that.
Okay, it’s true, he picked the avocado off the Tiger Roll, but overall he enjoyed it.
Woof!
Thank you for visiting!
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her multi-award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security