A Big Lesson from a Simple Banana

The old school bus #28 was packed the afternoon it left Pineville (NC) Elementary School and, about a mile farther, lumbered up Morrow Avenue with its load of rowdy-but-tired students. It stopped and deposited me, my younger brother, and Bobby—a kid with dirty hair, wrinkled clothes and a constantly-runny nose—just short of an old, dilapidated house with dusty bare spots among the weeds in the front yard. Bobby never said much and, when the bus let him off, took off running through the weeds and into the battered front door.

On the way down the street to our house, my brother and I talked about the "riff-raff" that lived on that property; how Bobby was always coming to school looking dirty. We were still talking about him when we came in the front door and saw Daddy standing in the kitchen with Mama as she washed the dishes.

He heard us and, turning to greet us, interrupted."Boys, who are you talkin' about?" I stammered, "Awwww, there's this nasty-looking kid who gets off at our bus stop now.” My brother added, "Yeah—and dumb as a brick!" Daddy looked at us for a second, then glanced at Mama. "Irene, these boys must be hungry! Can they have a banana or somethin'?" She okayed it since supper was still a couple of hours away. He handed each of us one of the fresh, ripe Chiquitas—but, as I started to peel mine, he looked worried and took it back!

"Wait a minute, son! What do you think you're doing?"

I looked at my brother, who was just as puzzled as I was. "Ummm, I was gonna, like, eat it?"

He looked at both of us as he handed the fruit back to me. "That's okay, but why do ya want to peel it?"

My brother answered for me. "How ya gonna know it's good if ya don't? I mean, that thing might have bugs in it or something!"

Daddy looked at the banana I was holding. "Well, it looks pretty good to me!"

Finally, my brother had had enough. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a bag of shelled peanuts and offered some to me. "Here," he decided, "let's just have these instead."

Daddy was watching with a slight grin on his face. As we started to hull the peanuts, he asked, "Why are you boys doing that?"

By that time, we knew that he had to be up to something. I looked at him with a bit of confusion. "Come on, Dad... tell the truth: what are you tryin' to prove?" He chuckled as he looked at Mama with a gleam in his eye. Then he leveled with us.

"Fellows, it's time you learned the 'inside secret'! Now, y'all took that banana, but said you wouldn't know if it was good or bad unless ya peeled it!"

Mama, who'd been listening, dried her hands on the dish towel and added, "And then you wanted those peanuts, but you were going to do the same thing, and for the same reason. But, when it comes to that boy down the street, you wanna make fun of him just because he looks rough!"

I started to say something, but he continued, "You don't take the time to hull him; to look inside him!

Boys, ya never can tell: he might just turn out to be a really good guy if you two would take the time to look beyond those clothes he wears, or how dirty he looks!"

My brother added, "But he's stupid! He doesn't know how to do anything! Everybody in school knows that!"

"Well," Daddy responded, "have ya ever thought that maybe he never learned? Maybe 'everybody' just never tried to help him! You guys could be the ones who can!"

"But, Dad, have ya seen his yard? It's trashy! There's weeds, and dirt..."

He agreed. "Yeah, I know. But didja know his daddy left him and his mama? And she can't work with that bad leg of hers!" I honestly didn't know that part, he continued, "Boys, I've had customers who lived in fancy houses, with pretty wives and money coming out their ears! But they're the ones who won't pay me for my work. And when I call 'em about it, they'll cuss me worse than a sailor! And one of them's been in trouble for taking a load of money from his boss. So, y'see, just because something looks good or bad on the outside doesn't mean it's like that inside! You gotta 'peel 'em back'—you know, like you did with the banana, only do it with your mind—to see if there's any good in 'em! Don't talk bad about that boy, or anyone, until ya get to know them first. You just might be surprised at what you find out!"

Like most teenagers, we walked off when he was done. And, since my brother still wanted to be accepted by the "in" crowd at school, he continued to make fun of Bobby (among others) behind their back. But, somehow, Daddy's words stuck with me, and, over time, I realized that you can't judge the inner person by their outer situation (in other words, "You can't judge a book by looking at its cover.").

About a year ago, I ran across Bobby again, quite by accident. He's now a businessman who works for a large corporation and has a college degree. More importantly, he's grown into a quite personable, mature husband and father.

Today, I have a number of friends who have magnificent thoughts and wonderful attitudes, but haven't gone beyond the poverty level, economically or situationally. Often, their biggest drawback is a society that won't give them a decent break due to their financial status. But, to a person, they're still friendly, outgoing and interesting people.

And they're like bananas and peanuts. They're just waiting for our society to "peel them back."