You know them. They are either completely closed or have such a tiny crack that you will break your fingernails in a painful way if you attempt to do battle with them. I suppose I could try using my teeth, but my relationship with my dentist is a special one; he is a wonderful man that I never want to see.
Could a hammer win the day? Of course it could, but then you are left with a shmooshed pile of nut and shell that requires more patience to deal with than the whole exercise is worth.
It may be a commentary on my personality that I can chose to just consider these remnants to be write offs; an allowable variance. It's ok.. I expect that my purchase of a bag of pistachios will result in a proportion of waste, discarded without too much thought as part of the whole pistachio eating experience.
When first decanted into a bowl, it is easy to pick out the easy marks. They are everywhere, the rough meat peeking out through the split in their smooth hard shells; beckoning. The discovery of those few that have already completely left their shells is exciting, a bonus! Soon though, it becomes more difficult; poke around, find a good one, toss a dud back, flip, dig, flip.
At which point is it time to raise the white flag; to give in and accede that the remaining nuts will defeat you? For me it varies. Sometimes I just chuck the whole lot, having run out of patience. Sometimes the bowl sits for days, as I revisit the dregs, again and again, hoping perhaps that I will find something that I missed.
I no longer rail at the waste or feel cheated, having come to terms with this expectation years ago.
Life is short; too short to waste on lost causes.. You have to pick your fights, and you can't win them all.
Oh... and make that 35 impenetrable nuts.
Red Dwarf Series XI and XII Announced!
9 years ago
