Explanation of the 12 hot dogs V regenerating banana question —

for Peter and any one else who’s interested.

So the big day finally arrived. All Summer I’ve been slowly putting things in place, getting ready to leave my super comfy and structured life in Melbourne for a year of relative uncertainty and excitement. I was asked a few days ago by Nelly, a person from Wodonga, Australia, who works as a disability support officer during the day and likes serving people like me a beer at night so she “can have a social life”, if this was a trip to “find myself” or if I already “know who I’m I’m taking?”(1 point for those of you following the tally). I like to think I know myself pretty well. My previous travels and life experiences to date have taught me that I can be quite resourceful and stand up in a crisis when required, however In my humble opinion, if we stop learning, we stop growing so why would I rob myself of that opportunity by answering “I know who I’m taking”… Well I did, but upon reflection, I’m looking forward to seeing what I learn this year as I know that change is very anxiety provoking for me, but enough preaching and self indulgence.

If you read my first post, most of what I said was hopefully pretty self explanatory but I’m sure that some of you will be asking yourself a few questions about the 3rd point, which is a question about hot dogs and a regenerating banana. You might be wondering:

1) What is the ACTUAL question?

2) What on earth is a regenerating banana?

3) Where can I purchase one?

4) Why the hell would you ask someone you just met such a stupid question?

Answers:

1) yeah sorry, you probably need a bit more information to understand this one. The question is quite a tame “would you rather” question and it goes like this… From this day forward, for the rest of your life, would you rather:

a) eat 12 standard 6 inch hot dogs everyday

Like this tasty morsel that I found for about AU$2 in Santiago this evening. That green stuff is palto, an avocado salsa which was VERY tasty but is not a necessity if choosing this option. You can have whatever toppings you like, YOU just have to eat 12 per day

OR

b) hold a regenerating banana in your right hand as pictured below

Reckon the bloke I bought this off from one of the rugs on the ground on Avenida Libertador saw me coming… Cost me approximately AU$0.40 and I held it without putting it down for approximately 5 minutes before I got bored and ate it :)

You HAVE to choose one. Which is it going to be?

2) the regenerating banana is always immaculate. It is a ripe, ready to eat, standard medium sized banana (the one pictured above I’d probably call large, and not quite immaculate, but I guess that’s all relative). Once you have peeled it and eaten/used it in some way it grows back and re-peels itself to its former glory.

3) awwww… Come on now, really??? It’s a totally fictional thing :)

4) this game is all about getting to know people. If you ask someone this question (as I was on a date not that long ago) MAKE SURE that you get the reason behind their choice. You’ll either confirm something you knew about the person or learn something new. I challenge you to have this conversation with someone and see what you find.

Now that we’ve got the explanation all sorted, here’s an example. Those of you who have travelled before will understand that although it’s possible to meet people in transit, these are not the most exciting of days. There is always a mix people from the ridiculously excited and boisterous extroverts on a boys weekend off to “tear (insert holiday destination here) a new one” to characters who would probably be hard enough to get along with in their everyday life, let alone compounding their crankiness by keeping them cooped up in an air conditioned sardine can for 7 — 14 hours with non-deodorant using co-passengers sleeping on their shoulder and snoring so loudly you wonder if the engines have failed. However, in my experience I have found that there will generally be someone around that you can have a conversation with and this day was no exception.

I met a woman who amazes me with her strength and positive character. Nadine was originally from Cardif in Wales, and was on the second to last leg of her journey back to New Zealand, where she lives with her husband and her two young children, 7 and 4 years old respectively. This was her second trip to the other side of the world in 5 days, as she had flown to Wales to deliver a calendar that she creates for her dad each year with photos of his grandchildren. She wanted to hand deliver it so that she could surprise him for his 70th birthday as she really likes to surprise/gift things to her loved ones and she knew he’d appreciate the effort (1 point).

So why is this amazing? You might know, or even be someone who has flown to the otherwise of the world and back over a weekend. I know a few of them… But that was not what I want to tell you about Nadine.

You see her trip was supposed to be for 2 weeks, catching up with family and friends while her husband spent time with the kids and his parents in the north island of NZ. However, as it tends to do at times, life decided to throw a spanner in the works. After landing on Saturday and still reeling from jetlag by Tuesday, Nadine got a call from her father in law telling her that her husband (who’s name I didn’t catch) was in hospital after suffering a bout of seizures that none of the doctors were able to give an explanation for yet. This phone call cut her trip short and she started her immediate return to NZ. I find myself wondering, how would I respond to that situation? Would I be able to contemplate a question like the hotdog v banana with such grace under obvious stress and sleep deprivation? Or would I just brush off this maniac and yell at the first person who bumped me in the isle whilst waiting to stow my baggage safely in the overhead compartment.

Nadine’s response told me so much about her. The reason she chose the banana is that she is a person who feels that “I’d make it work. People adapt. People live with more debilitating issues everyday and still maintain quality of life. I could do it and choosing this option means I don’t have to eat all of those hot dogs!” This can do attitude was not just something she was saying as part of this random question that a stranger asked her while waiting for a connecting flight at Melbourne Tullamarine. From my perspective, Nadine was embodying this attitude in the face of adversity where many people would have chosen a different reaction. Talking to her about this. gave me every confidence that she and her family will be able to get through the potentially tough times ahead and be stronger for it.

In the time I’ve been asking people this question I’ve been given many different insights into many different people and their thoughts on what would be a life changing situation. This is the second time that the words spoken by the person have been obviously backed up by their actions, which is the hard part. Nadine was an inspiration to me and I will remember her when things inevitably get tough because;

Even though I spoke to Nadine about the hotdog vs banana question, I didn’t go from one place to another with her, or get introduced to someone by her and therefore I can’t claim 3 points. However, she did remember my name as we parted ways so 1.5 is the score in regards to the game…

Today, after landing in Santiago I started struggling hard with my Spanish to try to give myself the ability to start doubling some points as soon as possible. So, as of the end of the 22nd of January 2016 which, after a trip back in time, lasted approximately 38 hours if my maths is correct, I’m sitting pretty on 15.5 points.

I won’t do too much preaching but I will finish by saying look after yourself and those you love. If something will make you happy, don’t sit back and wait for it to happen, get out there and make it happen because life can change in an instant… Andrew