My best friends when I was 10 were Michael and Moazzam. One ended up a chartered surveyor, the other ended up in Guantanamo Bay.
I don't think either result could have been predicted 30-something years ago. But I think there's little about our adult selves that can be predicted from our childhoods.
One set of choices can lead to suburban respectability, another to the orange jumpsuit.
These thoughts have been prompted by the case of 17-year-old Stacey Irvine, from Birmingham, who has eaten nothing but chicken nuggets bar the occasional chip since the age of two.
Irvine has anaemia and breathing problems, and has to be injected with vitamins and minerals. Is this a cautionary tale about how the eating habits our children develop become ingrained and persist into adulthood? It is - but it shouldn't be.
What's so unusual about Irvine's case is that she does stick to her childhood diet, opening herself up not only to all sorts of health problems but also the intervention of well-meaning health professionals, who seem to be relishing the opportunity to tell us how to live.