Are fried bananas available at Pluto?

One of the neatest aspects of life in Eugene is that I can always expect the unexpected in bumper stickers and tshirt slogans.  While there is no systematic, conscious effort to keep the city weird, unlike the approach up north of us, most of us--this blogger included--are weird folks out here.

With a car devoid of bumper-stickers, and tshirts without slogans, I suppose I am a misfit even among the weird; but, that is another story all by itself!

So, the other day I was at the grocery store, looking for semi-ripe plantains.  The idea was to let them ripen to that dark ugly exterior and then fry the slices in butter.  Dammit, it is so tasty fresh off the pan.  The warm fried bananas, with that wonderful taste of what was once butter ... wait, let me wipe the drool first!

Hmmm... where was I?  Oh, yeah, I was in the vegetable section of the store, when I saw this guy who was perhaps at least ten years older than me wearing a tshirt that started with "I am old enough to remember that" and I couldn't read the rest of it.  The damn vegetables he was cradling obstructed the lettering.  I was ready to walk over and toss those veggies aside so that I could finish reading it.

He put those veggies away. Hallelujah!  I could now read the rest of it.

It said, "I am old enough to remember that Pluto was a planet."

Ha ha!

I intentionally walked towards the aisle where he was.  He started rolling his cart.  As he neared me, I pointed my index finger at his tshirt and said "me too."

He laughed a big laugh.

This is no trivial thing, dear reader.

Back when the stargazing scientists decided that Pluto was not worthy enough to be called a planet, it was big news to even quacks like me who fake an interest in these topics.  One day, when walking along the river, where there are a couple of markers for planets in the solar system that has been constructed in the city, I noticed that somebody had left one of the cutest messages ever for Pluto:

Seven summers ago!

We are old. We are strange.

Now about that plantain.  Yes, last night it was ready for me.

Well, technically I could have waited for one more day, I think, for it to ripen that much more.  But, I was done with the waiting.  I had to have it.

And I did.

I ate them all up.  I know I will have to pay for the medical bills later!