I have been labeled a picky eater by my friends and family for as long as I can remember. I was always told that I would grow out of it. But I am 18 years old now and I still haven't "grown out of it." As I get older I'm experiencing more social challenges associated with food. I get made fun of a lot by my family and church leaders and friends. They think they're being funny but they don't understand the adversity I'm dealing with. It's embarrassing. I want to like foods but I just can't. I recently had an experience while celebrating my younger sister's birthday that really got to me. I don't like Mexican but that's where we went to go get for dinner. On the menu was a whole bunch of stuff that made me gag thinking about it. There was a small section called "north of the border". There was mac and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, and chicken strips. I opted for the chicken strips. Ordering them out loud was hard for me because I was embarrassed. I was the only one not getting Mexican besides my three year old niece. But that wasn't the worst of it. When the server came with the food, she came back with the mac and cheese my niece ordered and my chicken strips. The lady thought that both were for my niece. My older sister quickly corrected her and said that her daughter only got the mac and cheese. So the server asked if it was my sister's boyfriend's 11 year old brother's food. He said no. Then I raised my hand and said that it was mine. And everyone laughed and even pointed at me. It was embarrassing. I quickly lost my appetite and sat there with anxiety building up. My own parents laughed. The only person that didn't laugh at me was my girlfriend whom I recently talked to about ARFID, something I've recently heard about and started looking into.