How honest and trusting are New Yorkers?: The unattended fruit stand test

How honest are people in New York City? What happens when a vendor leaves his fruit stand unattended for at least thirty minutes after the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade? Gadling knows because Gadling was there.

Not long after watching the last gigantic helium balloon and Santa Claus travel on down 7th Avenue with his hearty “Ho! Ho! Hos from our vantage point on 57th Street across from Carnegie Music Hall, we headed towards Broadway. A fruit stand had our name on it. The smooth skinned ripe mangoes and persimmons called out to us “Buy.” The bananas bought there earlier by this Gadling writer’s husband after he found a spot to park the car had already been eaten.

The vendor, however, was nowhere in sight. Not to the left, not to the right. The only witness to his existence were the rows of fruit–the packages of strawberries and blueberries, the bananas bagged in four to a bunch, the piles of apples, glossy and unblemished in the company of tropical fruits looking as if they had been just picked. A beautiful stand with beautiful prices– the best ever.

But no vendor. “He said he’d be here,” said the Gadling husband, who grabbed a plastic bag to gather some bounty and await the vendor’s return.

A man stopped for two bananas. “How much?” At four for $1, he handed the Gadling husband 50 cents.

“I’m not the vendor,” Gadling husband said, “but, I’ll give him the money when he gets back.”

“How much for the mangoes?” a woman asked holding up two.

“Three dollars.” With the sign clearly marked at $1.50 a piece, the math wasn’t hard. “I’m not the vendor, though,” Gadling husband said. “If you want, I’ll give him the money when he gets back.”

She handed over the three dollars and headed off with her mangoes.

Still no vendor.

Gadling husband decided to go get the car and come back. Hopefully, by that time, so would the vendor. He handed the $3.50 and the bag of fruit to this Gadling writer.

This Gadling writer began to wonder if this was a Candid Camera stunt to see just how honest she was. Would she leave with the money and the bag of fruit or stay around for heaven knows how long? How honest was she anyway?

The vendor was still AWOL. There was a man with his son in a stroller though. “Where’s the vendor?” he asked.

“Don’t know,” said this Gadling writer. “We’ve been here awhile.” Craning her neck to look around the stand and across the street, she added, “I don’t even know what he looks like.”

“He’s a Pakistani or something. He’s here every day. Nice guy. Do you want a banana?” the man asked his son. He didn’t give the banana to his son, though, but continued to wait.

And wait

And wait.

A woman came with her dog to join the man, the son, and this Gadling writer who, along with her daughter, wondered if they would ever be able to leave this fruit stand.

“Where’s the vendor?” asked the woman, picking up a package of strawberries.

“He’s gone somewhere,” said this Gadling writer. “I haven’t seen him.”

“I bet he’s getting change. He does that sometimes.”

The man left with his son saying, “I’ll have to come back.”

“Happy Thanksgiving,” everyone said.

Still no vendor, but no husband either. Where was that car parked anyway?

“Nice dog.”

The woman smiled.

Then, about the time the idea of tucking the money under a bunch of bananas seemed like a brilliant idea, a youngish man–a nice looking youngish man with lush black hair and a wonderful smile came running up.

The vendor.

Yes, there is an escape from this Manhattan street corner.

“My husband sold some fruit for you. Two bananas and two mangoes,” this Gadling writer said. “He’s the big guy who was here before,”

“Thanks, so much,” he said, tucking the money in his jacket pocket.

As this Gadling writer paid him what was owed for the fruit in the bag, he added two bananas into the bounty.

“Happy Thanksgiving,” everyone said about the time this Gadling writer’s husband pulled the car around the corner.

If you ever wonder just how honest people can be in New York City, consider this. Fruit stand vendors, at least this one anyway, can leave a stand unattended to go get change and know that his customers are watching his back.

In the half hour that Gadling waited at this stand, dozens of people passed by and no one looked as if he or she planned to take a swipe at the fruit.

**If you click on the first photo, you’ll see that it’s a video of people passing buy another fruit stand in Manhattan.

If you click on the photo by Ed Yourdon, you’ll find out information about the person behind the hand–a snippet of the life of the fruit vendor in Yourdon’s Manhattan neighborhood.

Work and play in Queensland, Australia: Fruit Picking

Most people go on vacation to avoid work. But, as I discussed yesterday, many young people are going to Australia on Working Holiday visas and participating in Specified Work to extend their time in the country and put extra money in their pockets. One of the most popular forms of Specified Work is fruit picking. In Queensland, the fruit picking opportunities exist year-round because of the state’s warm, tropical climate. Perhaps the most popular fruit for Specified Work opportunities is bananas. The central and northern portions of Australia’s east coast are home to perfect growing conditions for bananas, as the climate creates a lush growing environment that stays mild and humid throughout the year. As such, bananas are big business in Queensland.

The hostels and farms in Australia often have strong relationships wherein the hostels work has employment brokers by assisting travelers in finding Specified Work. I was invited to visit one of Queensland’s many banana farms and got a tour of their operations. Staffed primarily by backpackers, the farm provides travelers with Specified Work for visa purposes. I was also fortunate enough to visit a hostel – operated by the farm’s owner – where many backpackers live while they are fruit picking.

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Contempree Banana Farm

Bananas are delicious. Bananas are healthy. Bananas are hard work. Contempree Banana Farm in Innisfail, Queensland, Australia is a prime example of a working banana farm that employs backpackers to pick, sort and box fruit. The days are long, the climate is hot and humid and it’s good, old-fashioned manual labor. By no means am I trying to dissuade anyone from endeavoring to take on such a job, but even the farm’s owner made a point of telling us that he wants people to know what they are getting themselves into before they arrive in Innisfail. Farms can be dangerous places when properly staffed by people who are well-skilled and want to be there. So, the last thing any farmer wants is employees who are in over their heads.

That said, if you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, fruit picking is significantly more desirable than other Specified Work, such as mining. Since farms like Contempree are staffed primarily by backpackers, they provide opportunities to meet fellow travelers while you work outdoors in the fresh air. Sitting on more than 100 acres of land, Contempree is a sprawling farm with thousands upon thousands of bananas that are ripe for the picking. Well, some needed a few more weeks but you get my drift.

Most fruit picking jobs in Queensland pay a respectable wage of around $16 to $20 AUD per hour (about $12.81 to $16 USD). Considering that the minimum wage in the United States is $6.55 (increasing to $7.25 on July 24, 2009) and no US state’s minimum wage exceeds $8.55, the standard Australian fruit picking wages are fairly generous and are viewed quite favorably by backpackers seeking to subsidize their trips.

Jobs vary on a banana farm but none involve air conditioning and reclining. One of the more physically taxing chores is humping the bananas. Are you done giggling now? Humping is the process of actually removing the banana cluster from the tree. Meanwhile, other employees work in the sorting area and boxing areas of the farm. While still tiring, jobs like these provide more cover from the elements than humping with significantly less machete work.

Fruit picking jobs involve long days and are typically located in rural areas where nightlife is not exactly plentiful. As I looked towards the horizon while at Contempree, all I saw were more banana farms and plenty of sugar cane. However, most backpackers understand that their three months of Specified Work are less about partying and more about making money. So, they work hard, save their earnings and sleep when they can. The hostels provide opportunities for socializing and are designed for extended stays. This makes them comfortable and homey, something you want after a long day of banana humping.

Codge Lodge Hostel

Also located in Innisfail and only a short drive from Contempree Banana Farm is Codge Lodge. A renovated 100-year-old house, Codge Lodge caters to backpackers who are working in this area of Queensland. Like many such facilities, it assists travelers in securing work. Unlike many hostels I have seen in Australia and other parts of the world, however, Codge Lodge was spacious and didn’t pack people into dorm rooms like prisoners. Since it caters to backpackers who plan to stay for several months while they are working, Codge Lodge chooses to provide an environment that can feel like a home.

The rooms are spacious and there is a pool as well as a large restaurant/bar complete with karaoke and, oddly, a go-go cage. So, if you’re not completely exhausted after a day humping bananas, you can blow off some steam with a cold XXXX or Bundaberg and cola while belting out the greatest hits of Men at Work.

When I visited Codge Lodge, I met young people from France, Italy, Korea and Japan who were all mingling on the porch enjoying some lunch, making calls home and enjoying an off-day from work. They all spoke highly of their Specified Work jobs while qualifying their praise with some comment along the lines of “I’m looking forward to getting my second visa and beginning my travels.” While fruit picking may not be the highlight of their trips, they all seemed to appreciate the opportunities that it afforded and the stories that it would provide upon their return home.

Know before you go

If you’re considering heading to Australia for some fruit picking, be sure to have your visa paperwork in order before you arrive to avoid any problems. Be prepared to get dirty and work hard, but also to have a fair amount of money burning a hole in your pocket when you’re ready to start traveling solely for leisure. For three months, you will be working, not traveling as if you are on a proper holiday.

Before you arrive, it pays to research hostels in areas where you will be traveling and contacting them to see if they will be able to assist you with employment opportunities once you arrive. It may turn out to be the toughest three months of your life, but if you can hump bananas, imagine what you can do once your real travels begin!

Mike Barish spent a week in Queensland, Australia on a trip sponsored by Backpacking Queensland to see how backpackers find employment and entertain themselves down under. He’ll be sharing what he learned about the logistics of working in Australia’s Sunshine State and the myriad activities that young travelers have at their disposal. Read other entries in his series HERE.

Photo of the Day (12.29.08)


I’m loving this image of the “Banana Girl” taken by StrudelMonkey in Cambodia — the colours are fantastic. Also, you can’t help but notice the details: the dirt under her fingernails, on her vibrant dress — she works hard for her living, selling bananas so that tourists can feed the monkeys nearby. Hard work clearly doesn’t dim her lovely smile, though. Beautiful shot.

If you’ve got some great travel shots you’d love to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day.

Woman snagged at airport for packing banana plants in her underwear

I suppose if you’re flying domestically in the U.S. and had three banana plants in your underwear while going through a security check, particularly if you’re female, you’d attract attention. But, after discovering you were packing banana plants and not a pistol, you might be allowed to walk on your merry way.

Although, just how well one could walk is another issue. Seriously, if you had three banana plants in your underwear, could you walk?

In the airport in Sydney, Australia, according to this story published in the Sydney Morning Herald, if you have even one banana plant in your underwear, you’d be in a whole mess of trouble. A whole world of trouble. More trouble than you probably ever imagined.

You’d be in trouble even if the plant was not in your underwear but tucked under your arm like a rolled up newspaper–Or if you were wearing it like a hat.

It’s illegal to bring banana plants into Australia no matter how you are carrying them. Banana plants carry nasty ailments that sound as if they could be sexually transmitted diseases.

“Better not, I have black sigatoka disease,” one might say. Or how about “fusarium wilt?”– or “moko disease?”

The woman apprehended by customs officials at the airport in Australia was trying to smuggle the plants in from Samoa. Although she doesn’t have any funky sounding diseases, she could be looking at 10 years in jail and a $66,000 Australian dollar fine for threating Australia’s banana industry.

Bananas, politics and the economy

If you eat bananas in your cereal for breakfast and don’t refrigerate them because you were taught not to, there’s a reason. There’s a new book out called Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World that explains those habits, as well as how the Victorian era folks had a penchant for masking its shape lest it offend anyone. Most importantly, the book covers the politics of how the banana gained its fame, making fortunes for some and misery for others.

Terry Gross interviewed Dan Koeppel, the author of the book on Fresh Air yesterday. I caught part of the show and was fascinated. The story of the banana incorporates much of the world, offering insight into world economics and politics, particularly in Central America. The banana, for example, led to the overthrowing of the president of Guatemala in the 1950s and his exile.

During the conversation they also talked about the various types of bananas there are in the world and why they aren’t sold in the U.S. Buying various types of bananas overseas is a market going pleasure. I’ve found that the ones not much bigger than a finger are often the sweetest. There are these reddish colored ones, though, that are quite yummy. Reading this book, I think, would make a person eye those bananas in the grocery store in a different light. I do.

(Here’s the link to the broadcast page.)