Spoon

I was having a beer on Friday night and the waitress brought over a plate of cut up persimmons. This is a persimmon in its wholeness.


Years ago, when I was teaching in Japan, I was finishing up with my last class on a Saturday afternoon. My students were a lovely Japanese couple, and I had just asked how they had spent their Friday night. They told me they'd gone to their friends house and had a nice visit.
"We ate semen!" my woman-student told me.
I tried not to register any reaction on my face, but I'm not sure I was successful.
"What?"
"Semen," the woman repeated, nodding at me. She turned to her husband, "Semen?"
"Ummmm," the man thought. "I think so."
"I'm not sure what you mean," I said. "What you ate,...what did it look like?"
"It's a fruit," the woman explained. "An orange colour. It's looks like a tomato."
"Ohhhhhh!" I said, relieved. "PerSIMMON!"
I did not explain what it was she had mistakenly reported eating.

On Friday night my friend spit a persimmon seed into his hand and told me inside there was a spoon.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. A spoon is in here!"
He bit the little pit in half and whaddyaknow!

A spoon!