There are Two Kinds of People...

There are two kinds of people; those who categorize people into groups, and those who don't.

I'm one of the latter; I love systems that offer a way to understand someone by assigning a category to them, often by means of a personality test. In fact, I like just about any system of categorization (except astrology), and it both frustrates and amuses me when an item defies categorization. For the record, I worked in libraries for many years when I was younger.

In a recent study, the National Restaurant Association (yes, the NRA, I wonder how they feel about that acronym), determined that restaurant goers could be divided into one of four broad categories (from Let's Talk Business):

• Adventurous diners are consumers who are most enthusiastic about trying new types of foods and ingredients. They are frequent diners who are "upscale," educated and more likely to live in urban areas.


• Traditional diners are the least experimental and tend to live in smaller cities. They are often older, less frequent patrons who enjoy comfort foods.


• Health-conscious diners are more concerned about what they eat when dining out. They make food choices based on health concerns as well as specialized diets such as vegetarian, kosher and high protein/low carbohydrate.


• Carefree diners are the opposite of health-conscious diners and want to forget about eating healthy. These consumers are typically males under the age of 50.

When it comes to eating, I'm typically in the Traditional/Carefree category, although I can be adventurous at times. I'm quick to try a new restaurant, but slow to try a new dish. My wife, on the other hand, is probably a Health-Conscious/Adventurous diner. We have complementary eating habits and tastes.

Which are you?