Mangoes and Houseplants

I think I've found a way to make a meager living here. I was going into the GOB [General Office Building] yesterday and there were two guys struggling with this big ol' house plant in the front door. That plant was in bad shape. It had more dead leaves than live ones so I assumed they were going out with it to go throw it in the Caribbean.

I was wrong. They were bringing that thing in. And on top of that they beat it up bringing it thru the door. I started noticing the plants in the lobby, upstairs on the landing, in the hallways, and in people's offices. They were all in terrible shape.

So I got an idea. In the States there are businesses that lease plants to buildings, businesses, etc. I'm going to make a leap of faith and assume that there aren't any plant leasers on this rock. So all I have to do is find a couple hundred perfect, large houseplants, get some lease contracts for them, distribute them all over the island, and then maintain them...

Wait a minute...let's see. If I could even find a couple hundred really nice plants they would cost me twice much as they would at home. Plus no one would lease a plant here...it does sound a little unnecessary and these folks squeeze every florin. And maintaining all those plants would be a hassle.

So much for that business plan. It don't look so good when you write it down.

Any way, another topic...yesterday one of the guys had a couple of beautiful mangoes at lunch. I asked him where he got them because you can't get good fruit here [accept bananas]...especially stone fruit. It's all been refrigerated for a long time on the way down here and they don't ripen. They go from cold and half ripe in the "produce" aisle to brown and depressing overnight. But this dude grows them in his yard. He said they're laying all over the ground because he can't eat them all. AAAAHHHHH!!!! I love mangoes. So he brought me 5 of them this morning. They're a work of art...tree-ripened, organic mangoes. I'm getting verklempt.

One last thing...a lot of people ask me about how these folks handle the Natalie Holloway thing. Today at lunch someone (an Aruban) brought it up out of the blue. What I found out is that they believe it's a 5.7 million dollar scam by her mom!!! Of course there are more holes in the theory than swiss cheese but many people believe it.

I don't know, I guess that makes as much sense as many other theories.

God save the Queen [they have one, ya know...she's the Queen of the Netherlands].

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