A BIG FUSS OVER A LITTLE FRUIT STAND

It's as if they've never seen a banana before. I've never seen a bunch of grown adults consume so much of their time talking about the little fruit stand that opened up next to the ABC building at 66th and West End Avenue in Manhattan.

With so much happening in the world, the people in the newsroom at the ABC Radio Networks, (the anchors, reporters, editors, writers, tape editors and producers) couldn't stop talking about the sudden appearance of the fruit stand.

Walk a block in any direction on the Upper West side and you'll find a place that sells fresh fruits and vegetables. It didn't just stop in the newsroom. The building houses corporate offices and they film ABC's "The View" and the soap opera "All My Children" in the building.



They were all talking about the fruit stand. I'm walking past security in the lobby and some guy yells to some other guy,"You want me to pick up some raspberries for the ride home."

Others wondered whether the new fruit stand would be competition for Tommy's food truck, literally a few feet away. One noted that Tommy's is a greasy spoon, while the new guy offers up a healthy alternative. The security guard surmised that having the fruit cart so close to Tommy's would inject guilt into those who typically go for greasy spoon type food.



When I first noticed the fruit stand, I said nothing. I grew up with fruit and veggie stands in the suburbs of Philadelphia. They called them roadside stands. My Dad would spend hours finding the most remote location and checking out the freshest produce with the cheapest prices. Everyone agrees, the fruit stand guy charges less than supermarkets. But, such a big fuss over such a little stand in a city where you can find anything? That same day, a tropical storm was hitting Florida, NATO was about to blacklist Russia over its invasion of Georgia and the economy sank to new lows.