In my country, there is a tradition to buy fruits while seeing patients in Hospital. It became a custom and I am seeing it since my childhood.
One thing that triggered me always, why fruits? Why not regular rice / bread ? Why not cash money ? Why not vitamin/protien bar ? And I can not find any convincing answer. So I came up with a hypothesis. This note is about a stupid hypothesis.
I think People express love to their closest people. And there are several way to express love. You can express in words, like saying “Hey, I really like you” . Or it can be a little bit less in words but more in action. An example could be, working with the things that your beloved ones like. You take care of them and hence express your love via something else. That something else, could be buying a diamond ring, or it could be just saying hello every morning, it could be planning to be together for fifty years. It could be helping them in different times, being with them.
Whatever way people express their love, it becomes a tradition and whenever other people on the society sees these ways, it impact their thoughts as well. And the next time a different person thinks about showing love, they think of it. Then they also tries to do similar thing, thinking of something that is definitely different that normal, something special.
Now, the question what can be something special ? I think while human were living in the jungle, they came to know about fruits. And fruits takes longer time to get. You can not just row a seed and get a fruit immediately, at least not as of today. You gotta wait till the plants grow bigger, wait till the flowers came, pollination happens, a green fruits appears. Then wait till it ripe and you can finally pick it with joy. This waiting time makes the fruit collection more special.
Historically, the more you crave for a certain thing, the more association you make with, the more important it becomes in your life. So, that’s how fruit became a symbol of something very important. And you buy it whenever you feel like showing something special for someone in hospital.
P.S. Scientific fact: Fruit contains a lot of vitamin, minerals and fiber which are in general good for health. But these nutritions are also met by vegetables in a similar manner if not more. Fruit just got the benefit of “craving till it grows” effect. It’s very sad that, in our society, a bunch of spinach doesn’t look good as a present as much of a pack of grapes.
