Clash of Cultures: Eating the top of the banana

In the spirit of pointing out completely banal cultural differences I have to ask this question:

Do you eat the top of the banana? You know the part at the very tip where you opened the banana, right under  the skin at the very top? That part? Yeah. Do you eat that part? Is this a Polish thing? Is this just his family? Is this one of those things I never knew about and my parents have been putting my life in danger by not teaching me?


Here is what happens in our family. See if you can relate.

Martin offers the children a banana. They all, of course, want a banana. Except Lina who doesn't like bananas. He opens the banana, bites off the tip of the top part, spits it into the trashcan, and gives the rest to the children.

Is this you?
Do you do this?
Ask yourself: "Is this normal?" "Is this necessary?"
If the answer is yes to either of these questions, ask yourself "Why?"
If you don't have an answer to that question then "google it."
Here are some possible keywords/search terms:

 "why do some people bite off the end of the banana?"
"is there something wrong with the end of the banana?"
 "my husband is paranoid and thinks the end of the banana is dangerous if eaten, is he the only one?"
"are European bananas poisonous?"
"is there such a thing as an "European banana"?"
"if there is no such thing as an "European banana" then can Europeans be experts at bananas?"
"if Europeans are not experts at bananas is it possible that they have been taught misconceptions, even, shall we say, lies, about bananas?"
"am I more right than my husband?"

Today he was training the boys on the proper way to do this now that they are old enough to spit out their own banana tips.




First of all, I guarantee you that all of these questions have been asked by some on a Yahoo answer forum somewhere, have you ever read those questions people ask the WWW?!!? (gems such as, "do sheep shrink in the rain?" and " what should I do to be less crazy?") Pretty crazy.  But I'm not sure it's as crazy as a grown man insisting that he, and I, and our children, for ever more, bite the end off the banana and spit it into the trash can rather than swallow it. Ahh, the things we do to keep harmony in the home.
 I just don't know sometimes.

and now... enjoy this video... a blast from the past... involving ...  completely healthy and safe, from toe to tip... bananas...

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On a slightly related note...

Update on the hair and such and a frivolous book rec..... I apologize to all of my gentleman readers who may have no interest in hair and skin care, I can't please all the people all the time. ;)

The hair: I gave up after two weeks. My son was having his birthday party and it was just too much to bare (bear? they both work). The oil from my hair was all over my pillow which I failed to recognize until abut 3-4 days in when my face began to break out horribly in some of the worst acne I have seen in years. I say to Martin, "I just figured it was natural hair oil, it's natural so it shouldn't hurt my face?! wahhhh"  And he replies, "well, acne is natural too... you big hippie!" Ugh.   So, I ditched that whole thing real quick. I am now only shampooing every other day and then perhaps down to every three days, in an attempt to just cut back on all chemicals and what not in the hair and on the body.

As to chemicals. A couple weeks ago I added a new book to my Kindle (my one electronic splurge other than this laptop...I love it!) called "Babushka's Beauty Secrets." (completely coincidental that the woman is European, I swear I am not a one issue woman, despite what my blog may imply!) Basically just all natural ingredients from around the home for various hair and skin and overall body care. I like it because she basically gives you the recipes for natural skin moisturizers, lip gloss, face masks, etc. from items found in your own kitchen. I have used only the egg whites for a face mask and it worked wonderfully. I will be using some of the lip moisturizing recipes next and want to try and make my own scented lotion since the really nice scented lotion is so expensive. And I have done the oil extraction method on my face which I also liked (not from the book but suggested by a friend). The raw honey bit didn't work for me but I like the idea of using natural oils on my skin.  All of these ideas can be found on the internet I'm sure, for free, but I wouldn't know where to start, and I don't like looking at a computer screen to read. It hurts my brain.

I figure, if I can memorize some of these natural methods of body care, use them, and they work, then I can go just about anywhere in the world and manage to keep looking my age, and save tons of money in the process...have you seen how much one bottle of Oil of Olay face wash is at the store? I'll feel like a fool if I don't try the natural path first. It has worked so well in other areas of my life, I just can't stop here. I don't know why. It's just the way I am. ;)