# Is it wierd to build your own hand of bananas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910 "2018-10-13T19:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2018, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/41 "2018-10-14T21:29:23Z")
Slipping on a banana peel used to be an over-used sight gag. And our problem here is the bananas being all approximately the same ripeness at the same time - we wish they were not the same, but different. I think the banana growers and the grocery stores need help from the automotive industry: Limited-slip differential. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/42 "2018-10-14T22:19:17Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > ā€¦After awhile, I think I saw someone breaking off bananas from different bunches so I started picking single bananas off of bunches. Iā€™d pick a banana here and there, trying not to leave small bunches of 2 or 3. I suppose thereā€™s a demand for small bunches, but it didnā€™t seen right to do that somehow. I go by ā€˜is there a sticker left on the split-off bunch? If so, split away.ā€™ Grocery stores around here seem to expect people to do the splittingā€“otherwise I donā€™t think theyā€™d put several stickers on a bunch (which is what they do. The stickers, I believe, are intended to distinguish ā€˜regular-price bananasā€™ from ā€˜more-expensive ā€˜organicā€™ bananasā€™). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/43 "2018-10-15T06:57:05Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > A guy like me from a northern country (well, he IS me) would be surprised to learn that bananas grow ā€œstem end downā€ (itā€™s not really the plantā€™s stem of course). It appears gravity-defying-ish, if youā€™ve never seen the plant they come from. (I havenā€™t seen, I just have this isolated fact in my head that says ā€œHeh. Bananas grow ā€˜the other way upā€™. Who knew?ā€) > > So, it depends which way they were hanging, under your stairs. The bunch hangs from the ā€œtreeā€, like an apple does. (Or actually, sort of like dates). Stem end up. This is hundreds of bananas, so there is a lot of weight. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/44 "2018-10-15T12:52:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Iā€™ve never heard a bunch called a ā€œhand.ā€ A single banana is a ā€œfinger.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/45 "2018-10-15T13:41:01Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > And our problem here is the bananas being all approximately the same ripeness at the same time - we wish they were not the same, but different. Yip, local grocery store only ever has bananas of matching vintage available so I canā€™t select for ripeness. Not that bananas get a chance to spoil in my house, some days my three year old son is 5% banana by weight, I swear. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/46 "2018-10-15T13:56:10Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > What is the penalty for unauthorized bunch splitting? Do security guards drag you out the back and beat you senseless with cucumbers? You get sent to the Group W bench along with the people who sample the fruit, the folks who have 20 things in the express lane and the idiots who wait until they are at the front of the line at the deli counter to start figuring out what they want. And the people who wait until the cashier tells them the amount due before they get their wallet out? The Group W bench is too good for them. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/47 "2018-10-15T15:02:20Z")
Nope, not weird at all! I do it all the time (but then maybe Iā€™m weird!!). I like bananas to be at the perfect stage of ripeness (for me). I have a banana every morning at work, so instead of trying to transport one from home every day and risking it getting all bruised up in my bag, I bring what I call a ā€œbunchā€ to work every Monday. I get 5 bananas ranging from a perfect ready to eat all the way to a slightly green. Most of the time it works out perfectly. I hate green bananas (no flavor) and I hate overly ripe bananas (too mushy). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/48 "2018-10-15T17:02:41Z")
Sometimes itā€™s only green at the store, and I put them in a paper bag to concentrate the ethyline gas and ripen them quicker. That said, I think itā€™s a bit selfish to make your own bunch, leaving the store with a lot of bunches too small to sell. Besides, Iā€™ve never see a bunch with varying levels of ripeness. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/49 "2018-10-16T00:33:38Z")
When Iā€™m feeling nostalgic, I just pretend that my hands ARE bananas. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RO10s_HK6d0/hqdefault.jpg "My Hands Are Bananas") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO10s_HK6d0) ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/50 "2018-10-16T13:44:00Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Buying separate bananas makes sense for the reasons described above. > > But ā€˜build your handā€™ implies youā€™reā€¦what, wiring them together somehow before taking them to the checkout? Yes, I just call it ā€œbuying bananasā€. There is no requirement to buy complete bunches. I donā€™t tape assorted singles into a Frankenstein bunch before bringing them to the register. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/51 "2018-10-16T13:49:24Z")
Having not read any of the replies, Iā€™m chiming in to say that after 38 years in the produce business and over 25 punching the clock at the same produce business, picking and choosing individual bananas, taking two from this bunch, one from that bunchā€¦is extraordinarily common. Plenty of people make sure that they can have one today, one tomorrow etc. There are also ways that you, at home, can speed up or slow down/stop the ripening process if you need to. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/52 "2018-10-16T14:05:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > On a somewhat related note, not long ago I bought a _really_ green bunch of bananas. Left them sitting for days with no obvious change, thought maybe they had been picked too green and maybe the skin color would never change but the inside would ripen. Broke one open and it snapped like a crisp apple and a small taste showed it was bitter. Tried it again a few days later with the same result. Thought that maybe I should just throw the remaing bananas away because they would never be ripe, but they finally ripened after _three weeks_. Sounds like you bought yourself some plantains AKA [cooking bananas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_banana), not _dessert_ bananas. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/53 "2018-10-16T15:41:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **gaffa** : > > That said, I think itā€™s a bit selfish to make your own bunch, leaving the store with a lot of bunches too small to sell. How are the remaining bunches too small to sell? The fact that people are doing this is, itself, evidence that small bunches can and do sell. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/54 "2018-10-16T17:42:35Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I donā€™t break up existing bunches but there are usually plenty of singles laying around. Same experience here. The local groceries probably have 3/4 of their available bananas as bunches of 5 to 7 (never seems to get to 8 for some reason). The remaining bananas are either singles or in clusters of 2 or 3. Bananas locally are rarely sold with even a hint of brown, so what youā€™ll generally see are a big load of banana bunches mostly all of one level of ripeness (ā€˜a little greenā€™ being common) and the loose bananas at roughly the same ripeness with some a little more ripe. What I try to do is get a bunch of five or six slightly green bananas, and then one or two ā€œjust shed the green yesterdayā€ bananas. One the brown spots start up, the bananas go south fast. And no, putting them in the fridge doesnā€™t help ā€“ they still get mushy and over-sweet & bitter (yeah ā€¦ too sweet and bitter simultaneously. Not sure how else to explain it). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/55 "2018-10-16T19:24:44Z")
Thereā€™s nothing contradictory about being both bitter and sweet. Itā€™s bitter and sour that are opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/56 "2018-10-16T19:45:10Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Sounds like you bought yourself some plantains AKA [cooking bananas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_banana), not _dessert_ bananas. Nope, just your bog-standard [Grand Nain Cavendish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Nain). ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/57 "2018-10-16T20:28:30Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > And no, putting them in the fridge doesnā€™t help ā€“ they still get mushy and over-sweet & bitter (yeah ā€¦ too sweet and bitter simultaneously. Not sure how else to explain it). Not only does it not help ā€“ refrigeration makes them go brown. I think thereā€™s a column about it somewhere hereā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/58 "2018-10-16T20:51:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Thereā€™s nothing contradictory about being both bitter and sweet. Itā€™s bitter and sour that are opposites. Iā€™m sure we agree that acidity and sweetness are independent properties. But Iā€™m not sure what youā€™re claiming about the definitions of the words bitter and sour. I think ā€œsourā€ usually has the narrow meaning acidic. Whereas ā€œbitterā€ seems to have a much wider range of meaning - it can mean unripe, not sweet, acrid, acidic or caustic, even though the last two are chemically opposites. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/59 "2018-10-16T21:48:13Z")
When people refer to the fundamental flavors as being sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, the last refers to sensors on the tongue which primarily detect bases. Yes, it can also mean any disagreeable flavor, but I think that usage just confuses matters. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910/60 "2018-10-17T02:16:06Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I never thought Iā€™d miss a hand so much. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > They send the Hot Cops after you. And a construction worker. Well, remember, thereā€™s always money in the banana hand. (I just wanted to let you know that someone _did_ enjoy the references!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wierd-to-build-your-own-hand-of-bananas/822910.md?page=4)