I had an unexpected meeting with Delmar last week at breakfast. I had picked out a bowl of fruit, but not a lot of fruit, just a supplement to my breakfast. I brought everything up to the lady at the register. She frowned, looked at the fruit carefully, and said, “Let’s try something.” She weighed the fruit and played around with the computer for a while. Then she muttered, “I need a manager? Delmar! Delmar, get over here!”
And Delmar came. “Look at the price of this bowl of fruit,” the lady said.
Delmar looked at the price appraisingly. “You know,” he said to me, “That actually costs more than a cup of fruit.”
I didn’t know that. But I also really wanted to sit down and eat my breakfast. I had a paper to write, or at least outline. “I just want some fruit,” I said, feeling weirdly like Oliver Twist.
“But it’s more expensive,” Delmar said.
I shrugged. “Not much more.”
“There’s too much fruit in the fruit cups?” Delmar asked.
“I guess,” I said. “I don’t really want a lot.”
“Should we have other fruit cups that are smaller?” Delmar asked.
I really wasn’t sure. I just wanted to stop debating over the value of my bowl of fruit so I could eat it. But what I actually said was, “I just want some fruit, not a lot.”
Delmar nodded sagely and let me keep my bowl of fruit, free of charge.
I feel very enlightened by this confrontation. Delmar, I eagerly await smaller cups of fruit that will let me save two or three meal points.
Leave a Reply