system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5- Why is it that salt and pepper are the only two prevalent spices to be found on the dinner table?

I thought this was weird.  I know that spices were popular long ago because food tasted awful, but back then they were outrageously expensive. So why is it that we have choosen salt and pepper as our only go-to spices that we actively put on the dinner table?
gpt
Blame the French.  Basically there was a super picky French emperor that disliked most other spices so he banned them.  French cuisine adapted and became the dominating cuisine of Europe and consequently the rest of the world.