Like banana split
My friend Rosse G. can’t have enough of bananas. According to her, she eats lots of it just like a—never mind. There are very few people who don’t like bananas. According to correlated.org, 85 percent of people like bananas. So if there are 100 people in a room, 85 of them go bananas over bananas.
It’s a very likable fruit and it’s a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamins (folate, B6, among others). Aside from its nutritional value, bananas have cash value. Tagum in Davao del Norte celebrates this half moon-shaped fruit for its contribution to the economy of the region.
The Banana Festival falls on the first two weeks of July and is made merry with trade fairs, street dances and cultural events.
I’m writing about bananas not to document my travel to Davao to attend one such festival but to simply talk about this amazing fruit.
Long ago I read somewhere (I know this is sloppy) that the right way to peel a banana is to start at the bottom of the fruit.
“Oh, I’ve been peeling bananas that way, starting at the black button tip,” Rosse said.
“Uh-oh, the article said that peeling a banana this way is the right way because that’s how monkeys do it,” I said.
“Well I’ll be, I just learned I have affinity with King Kong. But I wonder why they do it that way. Me, I do it that way because the peel is softer at the tip,” she said.
“Maybe it’s primate logic. I, too, have adopted this way of peeling a banana. No big deal,” I said.
“So, shall we now serve a bowl of banana split with banana idioms as sauce?” Rosse asked. Hmm, a good idea, I thought.
“Here’s for starters: ‘One-banana problem’ is not much of a problem. It’s actually doing something without sweat, without effort or training.”
“Can shopping count as an OBP?” Rosse asked. “Shopping without money would be, but let’s go to the next banana: second banana.”
“I wonder what happened to the first banana. I do know that a second banana takes a minor role in theater or a movie or even at the office,” Rosse said.
“I know what happened to the first banana. I ate it. Next banana.”
“Please don’t say ‘banana republic.’ It’s so overused. I saw a friend of mine slip on a banana skin when he downgraded a certain country as a banana republic,” Rosse said.
“That’s Facebook-bashing material. To slip on a banana skin means making an embarrassing and avoidable mistake. Oh, boy, I hope we don’t slip on a banana skin with what we are saying today. Let’s get out of here and make like a banana split,” I said.
“But I hope as we hurry out someone will anoint us with banana oil,” Rosse said.