My Food, Mine!

Those of you who have children, or siblings, or have even ever spent a meal with a family with young children will know what I'm talking about here.

Food tastes better off of Mum's plate. Or Dad's plate. Somehow, when food is served to a parent, and you eat it, it tastes better. Or, at least, that's the philosophy of children. Apparently it's the opinion of certain peers of mine that it also tastes better off of the plate of a friend, and they feel free to steal it without any comment or apology. Now, granted, I don't mind at all if my close friends take my food. Heck, I've been known to steal things from Fitzy. Ooh fries, yum! Stolen! This is a behaviour that I save for those that I am truly close to, and those I feel comfortable with. It is not something that I do to someone I see maybe once a week and have never had any kind of meaningful, bonding conversation or time with. It just strikes me as rude. Am I wrong here?

In my child psychology course we talked about this phenomena with children. Children are biologically programmed to have a preference for food that their parents eat. (No joke!) This teaches them what is safe to eat, what is tasty, and what might kill them. This is why young babies stare intently while you munch down, why you can convince a one year old to eat mushed peas by pretending to eat them, and why your two year old won't eat the peas on his own plate but won't keep his hands off of yours.

So I ask, is this casual acquaintance of mine just rude, or is it just a sign that they've never quite grown up?