Are you a Taster or a Gambler?

I just got home from our local “farmer’s market” where I’ve lately been buying my produce for the week. I get a bag of cherries, then proceed to the bulk aisle. While I’m scooping some sushi style rice into my bag, I notice a woman carrying a bag of cherries back to the cherry section. And she takes a pit out of her mouth. Huh.

She puts the bag of cherries back onto the display, then takes another bag and places it into her cart. I think to myself “Oh, she must have tasted one, it met with her approval, and now she’s getting a different bag to buy because she wouldn’t want to buy the one that was opened.”

A few moments later she comes back to the cherry display, and puts her bag BACK on the display. Walks away empty handed. What does that mean?

When I first saw her I almost, jokingly, asked her how the cherries were, since I had just put a bag in my cart. And now, I was concerned that the cherries were so unpalatable that she couldn’t even fathom buying a bag, even though she’d tested at least two different bags.

What do you do? Do you sneak a taste in the store, or take the risk?

I’m a gambler. I buy the produce. If it’s bad, I either throw it out, in the case of a plum or peach; a single item product. If it’s a multiple item product, like strawberries, or let’s say, cherries, and they’re bad, I return them to the store.

That’s another reason to love Whole Foods. They usually have lots of samples out, and they are more than happy to provide a sample to you if you ask.

And, in case you’re wondering, my strawberry container this week has about one more strawberry than last week.

Edited to add: I have to return my cherries. They’re all soft and not edible. Irony isn’t a strong enough word.