According to today's New York Times, technology experts have finally found a way to banish one of life's most trying tasks:
Sticker-removal duty took Jean Lemeaux of Clarksville, Tex., half an hour one day last week.
"I was picking all the little stickers from the Piggly Wiggly off my plums and my avocado pears and my peaches," said Ms. Lemeaux, 76. "Then I had to make fruit salad out of the ones that got hurt when I took the stickers off, and then I had to wash the glue off the other ones before I put them in the fruit bowl."
"One time," she said, "I got up the next morning and looked in the mirror and there were two of them up in my hair."
You've got to be kidding me. And, this made the COVER of the New York Times. Not above the fold mind you, but still...
Apparently the solution to this horrific global crisis is none other than the age old artform of tattooing (adorned pear above):
A new technology being used by produce distributors employs lasers to tattoo fruits and vegetables with their names, identifying numbers, countries of origin and other information that helps speed distribution. The marks are burned onto the outer layer of the skin and are visible to discerning consumers and befuddled cashiers alike...
..."With the right scanning technology the produce could even be bar-coded with lots of information: where it comes from, who grew it, who picked it, even how many calories it has per serving," said Fred Durand III, president of Durand-Wayland. "You could have a green pepper that was completely covered with coding. Or you could sell advertising space."
Great. Cause you know, my day isn't filled with enough unwanted advertising and marketing messages.
Why don't those wacky technology wizards stop focusing on the glories of produce and concentrate on something equally useless in a non-food-related sector? - Like coming up with a Weeble that will finally fall down.
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