Ever Eaten a Walkie Talkie?

By Calvert F Cazier, PhD, MPH | June 29, 2021

“Have you ever eaten a walkie talkie?” asked our grandson Calvert’s friend, a young man from Birmingham, England.

He had a pretty strong accent, so my first reaction was to assume I had misunderstood him, or he was playing some kind of joke on me. Of course, I hadn’t eaten a two-way radio.

I was convinced he was messing with my head, checking my IQ or the gullibility of an American Senior Citizen. I didn’t want to give him the pleasure of falling into his trap, so I flippantly responded to his dumb question by asking two dumb questions of my own. “No! I haven’t, have you?” and then “Was it good?”

Then apologetically, I responded more politely, “To my knowledge I have never eaten a walkie talkie. Have you?” To my surprise he assured me that he had eaten several, and they were very good.

I admit, he had captured my curiosity a bit, so I had to ask the question, “What is a ‘walkie talkie’?” I immediately wished I hadn’t asked. He told me that a ‘walkie talkie’ is a common African dish that he and our grandson had eaten many times while they were living in South Africa, which is where we were when we were having this conversation. In America we might simply call this dish ‘chicken feet and head.’ Yup, that’s right, the feet and head of a chicken.

To make this tasty treat, you boil the head and feet to remove the hair and nails, then grill or deep fry them. It’s one of the most popular food dishes sold on the streets of South Africa and is usually served with a sauce and a bland starchy dish called pap.

He suggested that I should try this delicacy while I was there, but I passed on the idea.

So, what does this have to do with parenting? It could be the great start of a discussion about appreciating the food we have, but I think an even more compelling lesson is the importance of curiosity. I dismissed this young man’s attempt to intrigue me and decided I didn’t like this dish without even considering giving it a try.

How often do our kids ask us a question or get excited to share something with us? How do we respond? Our kids are more likely to share the big and important events of their lives with us, if we show that we interested in their questions and get curious about their ideas and suggestions, even if they may seem a little unusual or off the wall at first.