The Gangster Grapes and Shine the Light

This is a story I thought of about twenty-five years ago and didn’t write down ...until today.

The Gangster Grapes
“We’re nasty!” said the first.
“We’re no good!” said the bigger second.
“We’re BAD!” said the biggest grape in the bunch. And indeed they were, sitting in the back of the fruit drawer in the lower section of the refrigerator, placed there weeks ago and then forgotten.

“Hello, and welcome to the neighborhood,” exclaimed an orange when they had first arrived, “We’re so glad to make your acquaintance!”
“Yes,” added a plum, “it’s so nice to have fresh and wholesome neighbors instead of the riff-raff that were here before. They went bad and made the whole drawer a sorry place. It was shameful!”
“Oh dear,” said a full, round grape, “that is terrible. What happened?”
“Well, at first they were model residents,” spoke up one of the oranges, “but they over stayed their welcome, gradually moved to the back of the drawer and went bad.”
“Yes,” offered a large grapefruit, “those of us who stay fresh longer remember these things and pass them on to the newcomers with the advice that they keep the cycle of turning ripe within its acceptable limits,” this said with a haughty frown. But then the drawer opened and she was gone, much to the relief of the grapes, who had the feeling that they had somehow earned her displeasure.
“Don’t worry about her,” a plum spoke up, “She was getting rather full of her own juice and it was time for her to be chosen,” then, with a dreamy look, added, “She went at the perfect time, just like we all aspire to do.” The rest of the drawer murmured in agreement.
So, at first the grapes were model citizens, plump, juicy, succulent and tasteful, fitting in among the oranges, peaches, strawberries and great variety of fruit that resided in the drawer.
But, as time went on, as the other fruit was taken out and new fruit put in, the grapes were pushed to the back of the bin, where other seldom consumed items had spoiled, left parts of themselves and subsequently been taken out and discarded. It was a seedy area.
As new fruit was placed in front of the grapes, shielding them from sight, and they were pushed against the back of the drawer, they lost their plump freshness, were damaged, turned sour and began to get moldy. This brought looks of disgust from the fruit in the front of the drawer, constantly being taken out and replaced, with the grapes becoming more damp, moldy and foul until they started to affect the other fruit nearby.
“Hey, watch it there!” a peach would say, as some of the grape’s slime touched its skin. But the grapes snickered and said, “Can it, buster, or you’ll get more of the same!” and a nearby plum, who had been too long in the grape’s influence, laughed and said, “Yeah, watch it yourself!”
“Yeah, watch it yourself, or you’ll get double,” from a pear browning along the other side of the grapes. And from the entire drawer came sounds of disgust and fear.
There was no doubt about it, the grapes were taking over.
Then, for a period of several days, no fruit was removed or put in and the drawer stayed closed, with even the main door staying shut. It was a bad time for the whole population of the refrigerator. The grapes spread their corruption and spoil throughout the fruit drawer and started stinking up the interior of the entire appliance. It was a desperate time and all the food was in fear.
“They’ve gone to my head,” wailed the cabbage.
“They’re stalking me,” protested the celery
“I’m getting a sour stomach,” exclaimed the milk.
“They’re making me cry,” sniffed an onion.
“We’re being bruised,” moaned the beets.
“This is the pits!” cried an avocado.
“I’m all churned up inside!” spread the butter.
“This is just rotten!” oozed the tomatoes.
“I’m feeling battered,” puffed an opened box of pancake mix on the top shelf.
“They’re driving me nuts!” shelled out a half-eaten pecan pie from next to the pancake mix.
“They’re killing us!” from the meat drawer.
(The eggs were too chicken to speak up.)
“Actually, this is kind of pleasant,” sounded from the cheese drawer, but they were drowned out and ignored (being a rather off putting group to begin with) in the general complaining and moaning from the rest of the food items.
And all the bottles and closed containers remained tight lipped and refused to intervene.
It looked as though the entire refrigerator was lost when suddenly, the door opened, light streamed in and a voice exclaimed, “Oh gross! Something is spoiled in the fridge! I told you we should have cleaned it out before we went out of town!”
The bright light and fresh air was a reprieve for most of the food, but two large hands reached in and pulled out the drawer, with the voice words saying, “It’s coming from the fruit drawer. I’m going to dump the whole thing,” then carried it away.
Out of the kitchen, out of the house, into the bright, warm sunshine, through the back yard to the far corner of the garden where it was unceremoniously upturned and dumped on the compost pile.
“Whew, what a bunch of moldy, rotten grapes!” was the last thing the voice said as the fruit drawer was returned to the house to be washed out and placed back in the grateful refrigerator.
Meanwhile, all the fruit that had been dropped on the compost pile was trying to comprehend this new environment, to adjust to this new neighborhood.
The grapes, ever confident in their nastiness, were the first to recover and spoke out defiantly to the occupants in general, “We’re bad, so watch out!”
But the only response they got was a voice from the sodden, brown mass below them, saying, “Actually, you look pretty good to us...”


So the gangster grapes moved on and, we will, too, for it is time for a Thought of the Moment, which, I suppose, can stem from the preceding story as a kind of analogy. So far I am taking these ‘Thoughts’ in the order that I have them written in my files, but I may alter that later if I find one that fits a situation more readily than the next in line. For today, as I said, the next in line can work.

“Any time there is secrecy and hidden affairs, when dealing in political agendas, the shadows of corruption will take root and grow.”

The sad truth about human nature is that some people, no matter how good their original intentions, get carried away with their situation when they come to positions of power, and lose touch with the influences of honesty, integrity, compassion, selflessness, and other positive traits that make humanity an admirable species. As the saying goes, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and I am a firm believer in the means not being justified by the ends. For every moment we are alive, in everything we do, there are consequences and these are never undone. What you put in the world stays, no matter what follows. It is a cumulative effect with only the illusion of transition. Good or bad, action and influence is never removed, for what happens becomes a part of history, a part of the past and cannot be changed, so whatever means are utilized affects the result to the extent that those means vary from that intended result.
Politics are the manipulation of governing influence upon the workings of society in order to direct and control that society. Governmental systems are necessary in a society, for the alternative is anarchy and that leads to chaos and dissolution. Politics are the interactions within government that enables it to maintain fluidity and flexibility among the many desires and influences that individuals and groups hold in interest. Laws are the tools of government, used to form the shape of society so that it is as smoothly functioning as possible within the needs of the peoples of/for which it is comprised. Common sense dictates that this is good, for it gives guidelines by which, and structure in which people can interact and prosper.
Groups of representational people are the creators of laws, the proverbial shepherds to the flock of society. It is their responsibility to produce laws that will give the greatest good for the greatest number, which is the default application in that no other system of comprehensive structure has been shown to work within the stricture of the greatest good for everyone, for the variables are too great. So, with the way the system is set up, it is close to being the best that can be managed. These groups of representatives respond to the opinions of others in creating these laws, as well as to their own perspectives. It is when self-interest and greed are introduced into the system that it breaks down and becomes anathema to the purported intentions of the greatest good for the greatest number by becoming the greatest good for a specific number. The more advanced within the governmental system a person advances, the greater the power of office and the greater the isolation from the common, general public he becomes. It is easy for officials to lose track of the many and associate only with others who, through wealth, also hold power, thus allowing their viewpoints to be skewed by these people. And, these wealthy, powerful people have the means to place themselves within the structure of government thus further removing the actual representation of the ‘common man’ and replacing it with their own interests.
The breadth and depth of the governmental system, the tremendous scope of what is maintained under the auspices of this system, the sheer volume of laws, rules, regulations by which this system functions and the methods of conceiving, promoting, enacting and enforcing all that this system controls is staggering and creates innumerable areas of operation that are inscrutable to any overt observation and thus can be distorted and subverted to personal, unscrupulous ends. This is where the trappings and manipulations of politics and power breed and foster corruption, this is where the darkness of society hides morals that fester and rot, this is where the financial and social troubles we find ourselves in today originated. This is not a political party’s doing, this is not an idealistic theory’s doing, this is not the governmental system’s doing, it is the result of personal, greedy, selfish corruption that had been allowed to profligate within that governmental system because it was not enacted in the light of day. The laws and regulations that are supposed to protect the public and control businesses have been subverted to protect the companies and control the public from interfering with the operation of those companies. The larger the company, the more wealth it has and the more influence it can exert on the government. The corporate entities which perpetuate their own growth at the expense of the general public, that put profits above the consequences that their products have upon the welfare of that public and which ignore the impact that the creation, use and disposal of their products have upon the environment are the villains which have ravaged our fragile security and threaten our society. They are the gangster grapes that need to be cleaned out and replaced with fresh, healthy endeavors that nurture and promote growth, health, well-being and peace.
Such a soap box tirade! This is an observation on one aspect of society and, while I have generalized and simplified it, the message holds true: we need to have more say in what the government does. I feel strongly about the direction our society has been going and the general (sad) state of the world. Too much pain, suffering, and wrongness has been bred in the dark corners of wealth and power and it needs to be stopped. I share my thoughts and hope to give some unity to the people who care and who would alter the structure of our government to more truly represent as many as possible and not just the special interests. I believe no one does wrong or evil intentionally, anyone can justify anything if they want to, but to bring out into the light the forces that control far reaching decisions which affect our lives is a necessary and vital step, for that is the best way to combat corruption. From corruption comes all the myriad problems and issues that plague our world, that which gives grief and sorrow to countless innocents and threatens to plunge humanity into subjugation, poverty, war and destruction. Those who act for themselves alone are the root of all evil; corruption is the greatest threat to mankind. We need for governments, businesses, religions and societies to be held accountable in their dealings in our names, we need to see what it is that they are doing, we need to know that they are acting in the best interests of all and not just the chosen few.
Let there be light.
Written by Michael Steven Platt 4-04-2009