Of bananas...

A few years back when I was still in College, I had a roommate from a different culture and social status than myself. Living with another person brings forth myriad of experiences and oftern times shock. To illustrate, I was about to eat a banana in the presence of my roommate, casually chatting, as most young men often do, when I started to peel the banana starting at the top. His jaw dropped. "What are you doing?" The expression on his face told me an ultold story that this young man had never seen anyone peel a banana from the top before eating. Now, I remember, we peel bananas from the top, make a small offering, and eat the rest. Not this young man. He was there to show me how to peel a banana. So, not waiting for an answer, he takes a banana from the bunch, peels from the bottom, and starts to eat, all the while his gaze fixated upon me, as if teaching a child by action. Well, whatever he was trying to do, the lesson sticked. Now, I know how to eat a banana. Well, I know how to peel a banana before I eat it. Lesson learned. Or a new skill acquired.