Monday, April 6, 2009

Bad Apple

Waxy, not the kind that's obvious, but the kind you find out after you've already taken a bite, and remains on your tongue, unyielding. A roundness that gives way to unexpected mealiness under your teeth. You spit it out, then throw it in the garbage where it makes a satisfying thud as it hits the bottom. It still had a sticker on it when you took a bite, what made you think it would be different from any of a thousand tasteless red apples you've subjected yourself to over the course of a lifetime? Who thinks of these things? Why hasn't there been a Great Red Apple Uprising? There are many delicious apples out there, and none of them come from Jewel. You knew this but somehow the hum of the fluorescent lighting, the mist of the automatic spray machines, and the piped in recording of "singin' in the rain" suckered you in, once again.

1 comment:

Shelley said...

J, I'm really enjoying the tales of your life in the city! (Making me miss Chicago even more).

I am addicted to organic food - an expensive habit, even more so when you have kids, but I distinctly remember eating my first organic carrot raw and thinking I had never before tasted a carrot that didn't have that strange detergent tinge to it. Carrots are actually sweet! Who knew? I had eaten good apples before (fresh from orchards in Michigan and Indiana). But recently I realized that the apple is perhaps my favorite fruit. Because I never get those awful Jewel shining waxed red "apples" anymore!