Brent Clanfield Post #2

As I grow older, I seem to notice more and more traits from my parents in me. My Dad is, and has always been, a man a of routine. He eats the same tea and granola bar for breakfast every day, and has a glass of milk and a granola bar before bed every night. He does this every day, and when he is unable to he feels out of whack until he gets back in routine. My mother has slight OCD and is constantly worried about germs. She goes to great lengths to make sure the meat is always fully cooked and the eggs are fully done, and that no food ever becomes moldy. She is always using cleaner to wipe down eating areas, and is always washing her hands.

Growing up, these things were the norm. While I became frustrated at times with always being told to was my hands and to get out of the kitchen when my Mom was making dinner, for fear I might contaminate things, and my Dad never wanting to make pancakes in the morning because he stuck to his tea and granola bar, I grew to be more understanding of it all.

Today, I find myself doing things just like my parents. While I may not be as paranoid about germs, I still am always worried my bread is moldy or that my fruit has gone bad. I will never eat any meat I cook until I check the temperature of it multiple times, and I always carry hand sanitizer with me. I even have tea and a granola bar every morning! I am certainly my parents' son. The past readings have made me ponder these traits of mine I'm noticing more and more.

I wonder if I do these things because it has become a habit for me after being surrounded by these routines and tendencies all my life. Lewontin would certainly say so. Pinker, on the other hand, would argue that I simply am hard wired to fear germs and prefer routines because of the genes my parents gave me. Personally, I see both Lewontin's and Pinker's points of view. I think I probably have tea every morning because I look up to my Dad, and it maybe even reminds me of my childhood. It is what I know and what I am used to. On the other hand, my OCD tendencies when it comes to germs probably are genetic. That said, maybe my mother simply instilled the fear of germs in me. Maybe it isn't in my genes, and it is just a fear that was built up during my childhood. It is certainly a paradox that is fascinating to think about.