Jpatrickm

You can learn a lot about life by peeling an orange. This thought occurred to me today as I was peeling one. This wasn’t some little squishy tangerine mind you, this was one of those huge navel oranges that barely fits in your hand. Occassionally I buy a couple at the grocery store and throw them in a bowl on the table where they often just rot until I throw them out. I continue to buy them because when I’m in the grocery store I always have this compelling desire to suddenly eat right and buy more balanced foods. Going through the fruit and produce section is like making a New Year’s resolution. Everything looks so healthy and fresh.

So today I walked by my bowl of large navel oranges and I pondered eating one. I don’t know if there are many people who feel this way, but I really do hate peeling oranges. There is something gritty and annoying about having to dig your fingernails into this thing and then peel it just to get at the goodness inside. I’d much rather just walk to the refrigerator and pour a fresh glass of Florida’s Own from the cardboard container and be done with it. Today though, I decided to go ahead and take one from the bowl and not waste my $1.69 per pound purchase.

As I peeled it, it ocurred to me that there are many lessons in life which can be gained from this simple task and that the same things that piss me off in my everyday life are the same things that piss me off about peeling oranges. And maybe if I learned to accept, dare I say enjoy, peeling an orange, then life would have more balance.

Here’s what I learned:
1. Patience. You need patience to get the job done. You can’t just dig into the job or else you’ll tear the thing to bits and have nothing but a juicy mess on your hands. Patience is needed to delicately peel the rind from the fruit in order to enjoy the end result. You can always just run to the refrigerator and pour that glass of not-from-concentrate, but sometimes life is better when you don’t take the shortcuts.

2. You only get the fruit by taking things one peel at a time. You have to peel the orange in layers and be gentle at each step. If you rush the the peeling phase and try to rip off more then you should, you’ll miss half of the good fruit.

3. You have to get your fingernails dirty. You can’t peel the orange without getting some of the peel, grit and rind under your nails. You can try to use a knife and surgically remove the peel but you know sure as shit that in your haste to cut things up quickly, you’ll cut off half of the good fruit. In order to really get the good fruit and apprecate it in the end, you have to get your fingernails dirty.

4. You have to get messy and sticky. There’s just no way to peel an orange without juice and rind getting everywhere. Stand over the sink if you have to so you don’t get stuck in that can’t-make-a-mess rut. If you wanna get the good fruit, you have to get messy and sticky.

5. You have to eat some of the white rind. When I was little (the few times I bothered to peel an orange) I would spend all this time picking off the little patches of left-over white rind that were stuck to the fruit; those little fibrous strands that cover the outside layer of the the slices. They annoy me and I don’t like how they taste but I read a while back that some of the most important nutrients in the fruit are in those little white patchs clinging to the sides. So I don’t waste my time making the fruit I’m about to eat perfect. I take the tasteless white patches of rind along with the juicy good fruit and I don’t worry about it. You have to deal with some of the boring bland things in order to get the good fruit.

6. You have to just eat it and not worry about perfect slices. Not every slice in the fruit is going to be a perfect wedge. Just eat it and enjoy it. Hell eat two or three wedges all at the same time, there aren’t any orange eating rules. Dare to be different and eat the big juicy mess like an apple. Eat it and enjoy the taste and don’t worry that some of the juice will escape and run down your hands and your chin (See lesson #4 above). Rip into it like you’re Tom Hanks on Cast-away and nobody’s watching. It’s your orange and you peeled it and you earned the fruit.

7. Lastly, it’s just an orange. Don’t try and save it forever, eat it and enjoy it today. There’s always more in the bowl and every orange you eat is different. And don’t bitch about the seeds, just spit them out and get on with life.

So go get yourself an orange and take the time to peel it right. The things you do on your own are always better in the end. Skip the juice isle.