Then & Now--Still Bananas?

It's been almost 20 years since I wrote "Bananas" for an English class (see below). I don't remember the nature of the assignment, only that I struggled to come up with a topic and at the last minute had this fruity inspiration. Some of the situations presented were true-to-life for me back then, and it's interesting looking at them from today's perspective. I wasn't even thinking about having kids in those days, but now I have 3 and every day I pack them a brown paper sack lunch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana. Who knew? Back then I lived in Southern California where traffic was a part of life. Now I live in rural South Carolina where traffic is something I can easily avoid by staying out of the cities. What joy to leave that behind! I don't remember if there really was a man with poodles or if I even had a dog. I'm pretty sure there was a lady with a crying baby in church, and considering the misguided frame of mind I lived in back then, I probably really thought she should take a leap. The scary thing is that given the opportunity, I might have actually told her so. To all those who had to deal with me then, I'm sorry. Thank God for His awesome mercy, forgiveness and grace! And for bananas.