I was a teenage sunflower seed junkie

Sunflower seeds have been my snack of choice for as long as I can remember. My dad used to eat them a bunch, and we would hang out in the garage and spit the shells right on the floor! Once I got a job/money and could buy my own seeds, I’d constantly have a bag going. Of course you can’t spit the shells inside the house, so I learned to be quite resourceful at finding receptacles to spit in*. My love for the seed was so well known that on multiple occasions I have received buckets of them for birthdays/Christmases. BUT, those happy days have come to an end because apparently I have ODed on sunflower seeds. Every time I now eat them, I get an upset stomach! It took me a while to note the correlation, but since then I have tested my hypothesis on multiple occasions with different batches and every time I eat them I feel sick. It’s pretty weird to be effectively banned from my favorite food. I mean, I assumed I’d experience it one day with steak (after my first heart attack) but, sunflower seeds?!!? Because my tummy-tum feels icky?!? Lame.

* My favorite innovation pulled from the “feedbag” idea. While reading, I found it difficult to juggle the book, a spit cup, and the bag of sunflower seeds, so I took to using a plastic grocery bag (like from Safeway). I was able to lie back on the couch, hook the bag handles around my ears and voila the “spitbag” was created! Man, I think this might be the first time I’ve ever typed something for Less Than Me and seriously considered not posting it out of embarrassment, but what the hell...