Cooking & Trust Issues

Knock, knock. Any shrinks out there? 

Have some fun with THIS.

See the image below?

Note the expiration date: 3/15/17. (Yes, beware the Ides of March. Very good. I'm impressed.)

Note the date on this blog post: 2/28/17.

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY I DO NOT TRUST THIS BUTTER.

Seriously, I have this thing with expiration dates, likely making up for the fact my mother has canned food squirreled away in the basement from 1987 and insists "it's fine, it's fine" and then she wonders why her body is falling apart.

What do I think has happened? The time stamp is wrong? Someone LIED? It's a conspiracy and the maintenance guy sneaked into my apartment and messed with the date or did something to the butter?

Intellectually, I KNOW the butter is fine.

But my lizard brain is like, NOPE. Too close to butter-end-times. Do NOT eat it or you will get sick and die.

What's funny is that last November, right before Thanksgiving, I checked the date on the bottom of a tub of butter in my fridge and posted a little ditty on Facebook lamenting the expiration date because it was 1/20/17 (think about it) and then suddenly it's February and I'm questioning why the butter tastes a little funny and then I realize I'm eating BUTTER THAT HAS EXPIRED and wonder if the universe is getting all political now, too.

And yet.

I can't bring myself to eat this butter.

Am I an idiot cook, or an insane one?

#dontanswerthat