I discovered a nice sansevieria plant in the garbage at work recently. I rescued it and repotted it and put it in my window; then I looked online to see how best to take care of it. On one particular website I found these two gems: “Likes bright sunlight,” and “Keep out of bright sunlight.”
Welcome to Bananaland.
I first learned about Bananaland from my friend Joanne, when we were both in graduate school. She was doing philosophy, I was doing Italian literature. “What did you cover today?” I asked her one day.
“Well,” she said, “we learned about Bananaland.”
“Do tell,” I said.
“In Bananaland,” she said, “two things are true: ‘all chairs are green’ and ‘no chairs are green.’”
“Are there no chairs at all?” I asked, puzzled.
“No,” she said. “That’s the thing. It’s possible to have two statements that clash with one another.” She grimaced. “It’s a paradox.”
It happens almost every day. Sometimes I see a store with both an OPEN and CLOSED signs displayed, and think: Welcome to Bananaland. How about at the supermarket? One salad dressing for $1.79, two for $4.99. How about street signs? Those are the commonest Bananaland combos of all: MERGE and DO NOT ENTER on the same signpost, or NO PARKING and PARKING 6:00AM – 9:00PM ONLY.
In Bananaland, everything is permitted without argument. You can be blonde and brunette at the same time, tall and short, fat and skinny.
I think the entire crazy world may be Bananaland.
It’s a lot of fun, actually.
The sansevieria is thriving in my office window, by the way. I’m giving it a lot of direct indirect light, and watering it frequently once a week.
I expect a nice crop of bananas any day now.
