I’m proud to say that I haven’t done much shoplifting in my life. When I was about four years old, I swiped a candy bar and hid it under my jacket. Then, once outside of the store, I revealed the stolen good to my grandma. For some reason, I thought she would collude with me. I was wrong. She turned right around and forced me to return the candy bar. Lesson learned.
Not that taking lemons — or other neglected fruit — from neighbors’ trees is the same thing. Having lived in the suburbs for nearly two years now, I’ve noticed that good quality fruit goes to waste. In June, there’s the apricot-looking loquats, which are refreshing and delicious. In the winter, I see lots of persimmons, oranges, grapefruits and, of course, lemons.
Ahhh, lemons. Perfect too soothe a sore throat, or to flavor various culinary delights. I’ve seen prices for lemons go for as high as $0.99 each. With a cold this past week, I knew that I needed a few to make my grandma’s lemon tea. The local grocery store was selling lemons for $0.69 each. I only bought one. Instead, I had already picked three from a tree in the neighborhood. I ended up using all four lemons. That means I saved $2.07.
All in all, I spent $15.15.
I also bought $7.57 worth of groceries at Trader Joe’s and spent $10 having lunch with a friend.
What’s left? $3496.94
