We Tomatoes

We Tomatoes

Despite what people may say, tomatoes are a fruit. Not because they have seeds. Vegetables, such as squash, have seeds as well, but are in fact vegetables. Tomatoes are classified as a fruit because they grow on a plant. It is a common misconception that tomatoes are a vegetable because of how wonderfully complex of a fruit they are.

I once saw a toothbrush commercial that involved the actor using two tomatoes to represent the gums of the human mouth. The tomato that was brushed with this particular toothbrush was firm and healthy. The second tomato was used to represent gums that are not caressed daily by the wondrous bristles of the advertised toothbrush. This tomato was everything but firm. Wrinkled, creased and saggy. That’s what tomatoes do. They are firm and they eventually sag. We are born as babies, with our skin soft, firm and full. To the point of fear that if the tightly bound exterior is poked or squeezed too hard, it would give way to all that it is containing. But, inevitably, as time moves ever onward, the skin becomes saggy, wrinkled and creased. We tomatoes.

The most repulsive part of the tomato is what’s on the inside. That mucus-y disgusting slime. Gelatin like. Cutting and breaking the skin of the tomato causes a leak, exposing the living slime to writhe out onto the cutting board. Ironically, the most revolting part of this nutritious fruit also contains the most important part: the seeds. The entrails of the tomato. The most sordid part of the human body is what is on the inside of our ever increasingly wrinkling shells: the innards. This most repulsive part of us contains the most vital part of our anatomy: the organs. We tomatoes.

There are different types and sizes of tomatoes, which provide us with a variety to choose from. No matter ones taste, there just may be a tomato for you. With roughly 7,500 different types of tomatoes, we are by no means bound to a specific type. One is bound to find a tomato that suits them. Though it is commonly thought that tomatoes are only red, there is actually a colorful tomato spectrum of reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, browns, purples and greens. A plethora of shapes and sizes are also available for the choosing. Brandywines, Black Krim, and Green Zebras. Beefsteak tomatoes are hefty and stout. Roma tomatoes are trim and lean. Cherry tomatoes are small, bite-sized and the most mucus filled tomato. Glory in the diversity of tomatoes in the world. Glory in the diversity of humans in the world. With such a variety of shapes, colors and sizes, one is bound to find someone that pleases them. We tomatoes.

The life span of a tomato is short lived and rather uneventful. Grow, ripen, wrinkle, decay and fall. Are we that different? Are we longer, more fully lived tomatoes? Grow, ripen, wrinkle, decay and fall. We tomatoes.