The Girl Will Win Survivor

I hate raw tomatoes. Hate, hate hate 'em. Always have. Make me gag in a way that only a finger in the back of the throat can.
Midget inherited this tendency. I was wondering if it was just conditioning from me, or a real dislike. I do remember watching her when she was quite small, about 18 months old, pick up a cherry tomato thinking it was a grape. I watched the expression on her face change to complete distaste and the cherry tomato made a quick reappearance on the floor.Since that time I have not pressed the tomato issue.
The Midget's step-dad, C is very unusual in that he will eat anything, the more obscure the better. He's been challenging her to try more and more things. She initially put up great protest, and I thought it was the start of dining-room warfare. However, she has gradually realized that some different foods are interesting, and perhaps even tasty!
For dinner tonight, they were preparing exotic sandwiches on english muffins. The ingredients were; pastrami, tasty cheese, avocado, stuffed green olives and capers. The pair of them took great relish in eating the sandwich and making many moans of pleasure in between bites( it was rather over-dramatic in my opinion).
A couple of days ago, C challenged her to eat a cherry tomato. I thought that I would try to do the encouragement thing and said that I would have one if she had one. So I gulped mine down as quickly as I could and then she bites into hers. At first there was a big gag. But then the survivor thing kicked in, and she forced it down. And then she ate another one. And another one. All the way defiant.
She's going to be able to eat the mangrove worms and the warm cow's blood and the crickets and the witchety grubs on "Survivor" hands down. Grim determination will conquer. An obscure talent, but good in times of starvation.