Cottage cheese and Olives

I discovered something about myself the other day. How can I be this old and am just now figuring this out??? Actually I've known it awhile. It's just come into clear focus:

When I was 9 I went with my 10 year old cousin and my grandfather to visit a (childless) aunt and uncle living in Seattle. This was quite an adventure for two young girls, not to mention what an undertaking it must have been for my grandfather!! We visited Denver and Salt Lake City on the way, but that's another story.

One night for supper my aunt served cottage cheese and a olives as part of some larger now forgotten meal. I have to tell you that i love cottage cheese, I hate hate hate olives of any kind. My cousin hated them both. She muttered under her breath that if her dad was there he wouldn't make her eat that stuff. I'm sure that set my aunt off. (She knew exactly how she would raise two girls, and part of her plan would be to force them to eat what was set in front of them.) She told my cousin that her dad wasn't there and she would have to eat what was there. And according to my cousin, I happily ate both the cottage cheese and the olives. My aunt liked me better than her. It just wasn't fair. I was such a brown-noser! This story was retold just recently by my cousin and she remembered it quite clearly even after 40 years!! Truth be told, I remember it quite well myself. And she's right. I did eat both the cottage cheese (which I like) and the olives (which I despise) only to please my aunt. I remeber so clearly choking down those bitter olives and giving a fake cheery smile and telling how much I "loved olives". All that to make her happy. So here I am some 40 years later and that little girl hasn't changed too much. I am a people pleaser. I would do anything to keep people happy and pleased about me. I want them to like me no matter the cost to myself in honesty. My cousin probably doesn't have any trouble saying what she thinks to most people. She probably doesn't worry too much about rocking boats, or disharmony, or other such utter nonsense. I still struggle mightily with that! I set the pattern for it early.