I had a traumatic beet experience as a child, too! I was having lunch in a restaurant with my grandma (a big treat) and I ordered a turkey club sandwich. I thought the little round purple thing on my plate was cranberry sauce -- wouldn't that make sense, with a turkey sandwich? No, it was a beet. I was completely not expecting that taste and it put me off beets.
But my dad always loved pickled beets.
What was your traumatic experience, b-wavy?