The other day, I brought rhubarb cobbler into the office for my teammates to enjoy. As we were enjoying the saucy deliciousness laced with oatmeal, I put on my best Smarty Pants and stated, "Did you know that rhubarb is actually a vegetable, not a fruit."
"Yes," I continued, "similar to celery where one eats the stalk, rhubarb is a vegetable. Carrots, beets and turnips, you are eating the root – they are vegetables. Fruits, on the other hand, you eat the seed portion of the plant, like apples, oranges and peaches."
"Ohh! Ahh! You are smart," was the vibe I got from the cubicles. But The Contrarian said, "What about peas and beans are they vegetables? You are eating the seeds." I informed him that, in fact, peas and beans are from the legume family. And peanuts are actually not nuts but legumes as well." The crowd was stunned and my Smarty Pants glowed!
Then over the cubicle I heard, "yea, what about tomatoes?" "Thank you, Norm," I said, "but it's a little known fact that tomatoes are actually a fruit." The conversation turned to work at hand and folks finished up the cobbler. Suddenly, from somewhere deep within the bowels of cubicle-land someone shouted, "What about a cucumber?"
"Uh, oh, well," I stammered for an answer and none came from the grey portion of my brain. Suddenly my Smarty Pants changed from bright shiny glowing yellow, to a Robe of Humility. "I'll have to check on that."
So really folks, what makes a vegetable a vegetable? Artichokes are the flower of a thistle, that's a seed, is it a fruit or because the seed isn't developed is it a vegetable? What else is out there that my curious mind needs to know? Help me change the Robe of Humility to the Robe of Knowledge so I can put back on my Smarty Pants.
