Friday the Thirteenth

This is the avocado that made me the happiest person at work.

Friday the 13^th has a bad reputation. Many people feel it is a day full of bad luck and ill omens. This past Friday was the thirteenth and I awakened and found a hot, miserable, gray sort of day waiting, in keeping with what people imagine Friday the 13th to be.

According to some sources, Friday, October  13^th, 1307 was when the Knights Templar were  arrested and slaughtered for their treasures.  Tupac died on Friday the 13^th of September, 1996 and Julia Child died on August 13^th, 2004, also a Friday. Other superstitions exist about the number 13 so it’s only to be expected that some people might fear Friday the 13^th…

I came into work on Friday the 13^th, to discover a lovely surprise on my desk. A luscious, beautiful Peruvian avocado lay there waiting for me.  I was ready for a day of blah, for despite it being Friday, there has been a cloud hovering over me for a few days. My computer is broken, thus limiting my ability to  write. I was giving up my old car and was taking on a different set of wheels, which while exciting was also causing me some anxiety. And of course… work wasn’t helping. So I was not particularly the usual ray of sunshine that I am on Fridays.

Friends, for those who are not aware, you can win my affection by giving me an avocado. God must have wept tears of joy when He imagined the deliciousness that is encased inside of that rough blackish-green skin. I cannot trust people who do not appreciate the simple goodness that emanates from the tender buttery flesh of this fruit. My co-worker and friend Hector, who knows what wonders the avocado holds, kindly brought me this wonderful gift and I am forever grateful. For now I will not look at Friday the 13^th as a day to be feared but rather as the wonderful day my cares went away because someone thoughtfully gave me an avocado.