Extrapolation

I ate a sandwich today. The bread was stale.

It was unpleasant. I wonder if the baker had accidentally omitted yeast, and included grief as a catalyst instead. A mournful loaf, if ever I tasted one.

Stale bread is always a sad thing. Fresh bread is a delight - one of the finest foods known to man (or woman). But stale bread is a cheap imitation. It performs the same function, but it's completely devoid of joy.

Every time you eat stale bread, you try to fool yourself into thinking it's ok. "It's the same!" you'll claim, choking on the lie (and crusts).

But it's not the same. A pale imitation. Like having sex with an android. But with more crumbs.

Stale bread is an abomination. It reminds us of our own mortality. Every one of us will get old. We'll lose the soft, sponginess of youth. Our skin will flake, we'll lose all moisture, and eventually we'll get all mouldy. We'll sit in the cupboard for a while, rotting away, and no-one will realise for a while. Until the smell becomes unbearable. And then we'll be thrown away.

The disgust! The sheer disgust on their face at even having to handle the mulch you've become. That same face was alive with joy when you first arrived. "We'll make sandwiches with this! We'll make toast! What a glorious loaf!"

But the potential was not fulfilled. They chose breakfast cereal and salad and (God help me) bagels. And now it's too late. You're in the bin, shunned even by the other refuse. Such a bright future - snuffed out by the blackness of a bin-liner.

***

A comparison between human beings and bread, there.

Food for thought. I had no idea it would be such a negative post when I started it.

Maybe I should balance it out with another tenuous comparison between humanity and an everyday object - but this time make it more positive.

***

I ate an apple this morning.

Oh apple! Majestic Queen of all that lives! A shimmering, glistening orb of truth and goodness!

Indeed, can we not see the apple's beauty in the soul of every person? The strong, sleek exoskeleton of human pride and dignity, dappled with subtle colour! And beneath, the rich and complex flavours of our inner-beings. Sweet, sharp, moist, substantial. The complexity and variety of it all!

All different, and yet all bonded by that very difference. Individuality and communion in that very individuality. Simplicity and infinite depth. Healthy and pure, but never boring. The seeds within contain a billion possibilities and the promise of eternal life.

Did not that original forbidden fruit open our eyes to the enlightenment of imperfection, and the perfection of the unknown.

Truly we are all apples, each one of us opening new worlds for ourselves and others. This living, breathing bushel, this celestial strudel, this orchard paradise, open to everyone. The first bite: the taste of immortality!

***

Yeah. That'll do.