Carlos's Blog
A question of bananas
So, the monkey paid the money and waited the two months out, all the time getting more desperate for his bananas. When the time was up, he hadn't heard from the shop, so he telephoned them and asked where his bananas were. Well, it would probably take another couple of weeks, they told him.
As the weeks went by and the monkey kept asking about his bananas, the shop kept putting him off and saying they would arrive soon, but couldn't say exactly when. When five months had gone by and nobody had telephoned him for a while, the monkey again rang the shop. Oh, yes, they said, the bananas had arrived. They expressed surprise that no-one had contacted the monkey to inform him, but so it is, sometimes. The main thing is that they're here and waiting to be collected. The monkey went to the shop, presented his chit showing that he had paid for the bananas, and was duly informed that in the interim, bananas had doubled in price. And, there was a special fee for bringing bananas into the country, as they may damage the local banana industry, even though there wasn't one, but one can't be too careful.
Anyhow, the monkey was desperate by this stage, so he paid the money and went and collected his bananas. By this time they were already starting to get black spotsand go kind of soft, but they were still edible. As he walked out of the shop he broke one banana out of the bunch, peeled it and was just about to take a bite when a citizen-official stepped out from behind a bush and asked to see his banana-eating-permit – which of course he didn't have. No problem, said the citizen-official, we won't punish you, but you must give us the bananas until you have the required permit.
Two months later, after jumping through hoops and performing all sorts of other humiliating tricks for the government office of permits for foreigners, the monkey had the necessary paperwork in order. Of course, he paid as much for the permit as he had for the bananas. He finally went back to collect his bananas and of course by this stage they were just shrivelled up black things, crawling with fruit-fly maggots.
Here comes the big question. How should the monkey deal with the whole situation?
a) He should be thankful he got his bananas in the end and didn't get a beating from the authorities fro trying to eat a banana without a permit?
b) He should enjoy the bananas as they are, because in some countries the children have nothing at all to eat?
c) Be thankful that as a foreigner he was allowed into this country to live and work, and stop complaining about the bananas, because everybody did their best to help him in this situation, and sometimes through circumstances beyond anybody's control, these things just take a little longer than expected. It is after all, a very complicated matter to bring bananas into the country and issue the required permit.
d) Be thankful that the authorities set him straight before he broke the law and he can now have a clear conscience.
e) Think twice in the future about ordering something as exotic as bananas, when there are plenty of potatoes for sale, if you're really hungry.
f) He should be furious with the traders and government officials involved in the processfor treating him so badly, even though he is a foreigner and therefore has no right to complain.
g) Just forget about the bananas, kiss his money good-bye and chalk the whole thing up to experience.
h) Or should he just have eaten the bloody bananas right under the nose of the citizen-official, and fuck the consequences?
i answer later...
right now i´m at brian´s place and won´t be unfriendly, u know
Got my first bunch on the tree now - I'm extreemly excited. As you are not in a position to emulate my green thumb (or sheer luck-o-the-Irish, as the case may be), May I suggest you stick to the skateboard???