Luxury - An Abundance of Pineapple

There is a section in this week's chapter on Luxury, and for one of the people mentioned it's raspberries that evoke a sense of luxury. Something I've never, ever done for myself is to buy a fresh pineapple. Now, they cost about twice the price of a tin of pineapple, half the price of a pack of cigarettes ( I used to smoke up to 6 years ago), and still the idea of buying one seems like real extravagance. ... You know what's coming, don't you? - I did, I did, I bought a pineapple, I peeled and cut it up, and had a big bowl of pineapple for my lunch today! Lovely. Long ago, my mother bought a pineapple, and it probably wasn't properly ripened, but it was a huge disappointment, tough and flavourless, and maybe I was left with the feeling that "you pay all this money for something, and it probably won't live up to your expectations" so to avoid the disappointment, I have avoided the possibility of pleasure also - with regard to pineapples... maybe with regard to other things, too.

It's a fruit! What's the big deal? The big deal is that it isn't a big deal, and still it was a big deal. Further, it's such a big deal, there is the memory of a dream of refusing to buy a pineapple, not because I couldn't afford it, but because I couldn't figure out if it was worth the cost, despite the fact that I wanted that pineapple. Well, friends, before this evening is out, the remains of that pineapple will have been juicily, sloppily and joyfully consumed. ..... Mangoes, here I come!