Buying Bananas in Bay Ridge

My favorite delivery truck in Bay Ridge: "We Go BANANAS ... for you."

I eat five bananas a week. Sometimes more.

It's not my favorite food. It's not even my favorite fruit. Bananas are just so convenient. They come in their own wrapper, and they don't need washed. And they pair extremely well with the only other thing I eat as often: peanut butter.

I've often complained about my neighborhood's grocery stores, but we rarely go there to buy fruit, vegetables, milk or eggs. They all come from the bodegas on our street. I like how convenient the bodegas are-- I'm usually in and out in just a couple of minutes if there's no line. There's at least a half-dozen within a few blocks, and Paul and I each have our favorite.

Mine is about two blocks away, and I stop there once or twice a week after work on my walk back from the subway. I sometimes buy a bag of couscous, some apricots or a butternut squash. But the vast majority of the time I walk out only with a bag of bananas-- the greener the better.

The man most often at the cash register and I have long exchanged a few friendly words when I check out. He gave up trying to convince me to exchange my bananas for another fruit once in awhile. Now he sometimes playfully calls out to the other workers to raise the price of bananas when he sees me walk in. I tell him that's ok. I'd still buy them-- they're the best in the neighborhood.

And they really are. The neighborhood bodegas are all only a few feet from one another, but the quality varies widely. In fact, we don't buy produce at the nearest bodega, directly across the street.

I'm especially surprised that the bananas are so rotten at some bodegas since I suspect they all come from the same place. Seeing the banana truck unloading at one of the local bodegas always puts me in a good mood when I'm walking to the subway in the morning.

I just noticed the big image on the front of the truck this week.
I think I was late for my train because I had to take a photo.