Apples and Arugula

[I orginally wrote this last summer, but never got around to posting it. However, I think it's a good post and I have really sucked at posting lately, so here it is.]

During my trip to Trader Joe's this morning (have I mentioned I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's?), I encountered a dilemma. Should I buy the organic Granny Smith apples for $0.69 each, or the regular ones for $0.49 each. Certainly the whole field of organic agriculture and environmental sustainability / non-contamination is a worthy cause, not to mention the avoidance of chemical residues on the things we eat. But in the other direction was the pull of the lifelong and deeply-instilled habit of being a thrifty consumer, and not spending more than I should.

I stood in the produce section and pondered my options for a few minutes. Ultimately, I formulated the question in a way that removed all ambiguity: save money or save the planet? I'm not living paycheck to paycheck--I can afford it even if it does cost more. And it is important. On the spot, I decided that the question really ought never to come up again. Regardless of the price, I'm buying organic whenever possible. Even for milk, which is 70% more expensive. Consider me a staunch supporter of the organic movement!

Among my other purchases was a bag of Zesty Baby Greens, containing all sorts of good stuff: mustard, arugula, tatsoi, spinach, green oak lettuce, lollo rosso, tango. I'm not even sure what some of those are, but I'm sure they'll make for tasty salads. As I was walking home, the word "arugula" was stuck in my head in an interesting way. I was singing it to a familiar tune which I couldn't quite place. It was a very distinctive set of notes, matching each of the four syllables perfectly. I could clearly remember this as the primary refrain of some song, but couldn't quite pull it back. After a few more time throught it, I remembered. "Jerusalem" by Sinead O'Connor! Funny how "arugula" fits so cleanly in there.



I read the lyrics for this song, but I still can't figure out what the hell it's about! Parts of it make sense in a fragmented way, but how does Jerusalem fit in? Anyone know? Anyway, what a performance style! I like how she barks and howls! Say what you will about her, there is one thing you must admit. She was *years* ahead of everyone else on the whole Catholic priest child molestation issue.


She was on top of it a decade before everyone else caught on. And her career was destroyed because of it. I think she deserves some props.

Recovery

The stress of last week's ordeal has ended. I got my money back. Here's a recap: CitiMortgage claimed they didn't know why they paid for an insurance policy for the entire condo building out of my pocket, they didn't know why they received only a partial refund from the insurer, and they told me to contact the insurer. The insurer told me that they received my money from CitiMortgage, refunded part of it back to them, and refunded the rest of my money to the condo association.

My next step was to call the insurance agent who brokered the policyo, but I soon discovered that was a dead end. They listened sympathetically, but said there was nothing they could do, since they were only the middle man. My only hope left was to contact the condo association and hope that they wouldn't be hard-asses about it.

Well, it turns out they were wonderful, and it took very little effort to convince them to send me a check for the remaining $562. In fact, all I did was leave them a voicemail message explaining the situation, which made perfect sense to them since they were confused about receiving that refund in the first place. And they sent me a check immediately. I'm happy, and probably lucky, that not everyone involved in this nightmare was a complete idiot and/or a mindless bureaucracy-bot. But still, it is very disconcerting that a problem like this could even happen in the first place. Watch out if you ever have to deal with CitiMortgage.