Shannon Reid of Grand Rapids, Michigan, has officially done the impossible: She pretended to know what crudités are throughout the duration of a 25-minute conversation over drinks last weekend.
“Crudités are traditional French appetizers consisting of sliced or whole raw vegetables,” declares Reid. “I now know that because I read it word for word on Wikipedia when I finally got a chance to Google it in the bathroom once the conversation was completely over.”
Reid’s friends discussed the food in depth for nearly half an hour, but never provided enough context clues for Reid to figure exactly out what it was.
“They were all talking about their favorite crudités,” explains Reid. “It would have been so helpful if they’d even once said, ‘Crudités are vegetables,’ but that never happened.”
Although she’d thought crudités might have been some sort of crown molding, Reid managed to participate. “I said I favor a deep color, and that I prefer when it is from the Mediterranean. They all nodded. I figured that was enough to prove I’m not a total idiot when it comes to crudités.”
When asked about the interaction in question, Reid’s friend Hannah Brady tells us, “Of course she knew what crudités were. She said she loved them and often saw and possibly touched them.”
“It’s certainly a relief to know I fooled them,” confesses Reid. “It would be so embarrassing to admit that I don’t know something, especially to a group of people I consider my friends.”
Now armed with a Wikipedia article’s worth of knowledge about crudités, Reid has mentioned the appetizer in at least four conversations. She has even scheduled an upcoming dinner party with the sole purpose of serving it on a table of snacks, and looks forward to pairing it with other delicacies she’s never heard of.
