Tomatoes Anyone?

A very wise lady once told me that people don’t change, times do. I’m not to sure that still holds true but it brings to mind a totally true story of one of the exploits of some anonymous kids who still managed to grow up to be respectable patriarchs.

              It seems several neighborhood boys told several sets of parents they were staying overnight at each-others homes and took the unsupervised opportunity to roam the neighborhood looking for mischief.

              After an hour or so of searching for that mischief and not finding anything that would not hurt or cause trouble for adults they came upon Old Man Griffis’s garden. Old Man Griffis was a mullet fisherman and used the cleanings of his catch to fertilize his sizable vegetable plot and was well known for the biggest and best veggies. He harvested more than enough green beans, squash, collard greens, ‘maters and ‘taters to feed his family and anyone else who would like some.

              These boys knew he kept Rock Salt Sally (some kind of BB like gun that he filled with rock salt to keep racoons and other critters out of the vegetables) by his back door but enjoyed revivals and one was happening that night. They were in the process of loading their pockets with tomatoes so they could find something to pelt with them when the light came on, the back door opened and Sally roared. Old Man Griffis had dead aim and peppered each seat as the four thieves high-tailed it over the fence and for home.

              Going from house to house the next morning he explained to each parent what happened, two of the kids acted incensed to be accused and told their moms they would never do anything like that. Whereupon Old Man Griffis asked them to sit down…

              The story goes each kid then apologized profusely, was assigned replanting and weeding duties in said garden for a month and one mom bought all the rest of the tomatoes that were not destroyed and guess what that kid had for breakfast, lunch and dinner for as long as they lasted (which he swore was at least a year-but was probably more like a couple of weeks) ?

              I would never reveal an identity…but my Best Beau could never be cajoled, begged or dared into eating a tomato from his 13^th birthday on.