The Life Lesson of the Banana

Jim McKenzie
The Life Lesson of the Banana
Food Narrative, Essay #1
Generally when society thinks of a banana it usually has something to do with potassium. Athletes all over the world are extremely familiar with all aspects of the banana. Whenever an athlete starts to get a cramp, in their legs or their thighs, the first step they take to defeat the cramp is to eat a banana to get potassium. Just like banana's can be used to treat an athlete’s pain, they can also be used to teach a whiney child lessons in life that will stay with him forever.
Just like most children at the age of five or six I did not like to eat my vegetables. I would have to say that I hated vegetables more than I hated Barney (and I really hated Barney). I would have done anything just so I would not have to eat a nasty mushy banana. One night at dinner I was begging my mother not to make me eat my peas. I then told her that if she would let me eat a banana then I would not have to eat my peas. Surprisingly my mother fell for the bait. I thought this was going to be a cake walk. Man was I wrong. I actually had never eaten a banana before so I do not know why I decided to ask my mom for one. I will never forget that first glimpse of the banana. It was the most horrifying food I had ever laid my eyes on. The outside of the peel looked like mold growing under my dirty clothes pile. The feeling of the banana felt like a broken leg filled with fluid. It just got worse when I peeled the banana. When you look at a banana when it is peeled it almost looks like there are little hairs coming off of it. When I first placed the banana in my mouth I started to feel the little hairs tickle my throat. It was disgusting. The actual banana is extremely mushy and it made me feel like I was eating baby food. It was indescribable how that banana made me feel. It was almost like dying and then going to hell. I told my mother that I did not feel good and that I wanted to stop. She told me that I could not stop because I had given her my word and that a person’s word is stronger than any bond you could ever make. As I began to finish the banana it seemed like it was the most horrid banana ever made. I kept thinking that it was stale and had brown spots all over it. I eventually ended up finishing the banana and then running to the bathroom so I could regurgitate that terrible banana. That was the worst feeling ever. The smell of that banana seemed to stay with me for hours. I could not get it out of nose to save my life. I then ran upstairs and told my dad what my mother had made me do. He laughed and then said that she was right and that I had to stick by my word. He told me that I would remember this day and the lesson I learned from it for the rest of my life. He also told me that next time I would not try to get out of eating my peas. Even to this day I have not eaten a banana. Even during a football game, when I started to get a cramp, I would make the trainers give me chips or Gatorade instead of a banana. Even though that is probably one of the worst experiences I have ever had to go through, that particular experience has made me into the man that I am today.
Most people that know me know that I am a man of my word. No matter what the problem is if I gave my word to someone I will go through any means to make sure that my credibility is not lost. A banana in my eyes is an essential part of life that everyone has to have. Just like athletes have to have potassium to excel in sports, people have to be honest in every aspect of life so that they too can excel in the future. Just like in life it would be much easier to make an excuse or lie when you make a mistake, like it would have been much easier to tell your suffering child he can stop eating a banana. The whole point of the banana is that no matter how hard things can get, and trust me they will; if you stick to your word and be honest you will excel in life so much more than if you lie to get what you want.