Tomatoes

In an unnamed campus coffee shop, at an unnamed hour, a dude (American, as far as I could tell) was holding forth on the lameness of American culture, specifically something to do with what parents feed their children. It appeared that he was holding forth in this manner in order to impress a young woman. I was somewhat preoccupied with learning all the different words Israelis used to use for "tomato," so I cannot say whether the girl was impressed by this guy's superior knowledge of American inferiority.... Now that would be a fun conversation to overhear: "Did you know that Israelis once found the current word for tomato to be offensive, because it had sexual connotations derived from its Biblical meaning?" But alas, conversations here more often begin with, "Americans do this, this, and this, don't they know better?"