Just One

I just want one! Is that to much to ask?

In the corner of my fenced yard stands a beautiful mature mango tree, which is the envy to all who see it. During the past month, it’s fruit has caused me much conflict and inner turmoil. As mentioned in a previous blog the neighbour children have found much delight in coming into the yard and collecting the fallen mangoes or using long pieces of bamboo with a hook on the end to harvest the green mangoes in the high branches.

Now all that remain are 19 mangoes that are too high for the children to reach with their sticks and too far in the yard for the adults to reach from outside the yard.

Upon my return from Vietnam, I was surprised to find any left in the tree and was sure they would all somehow disappear in my absence. However, now that I’m back and there are still 19 mangoes on the tree, I find myself becoming very protective of “my” mangoes. It’s not that I’m not willing to share, it’s just that I fear I will not have the opportunity to enjoy even one sweet delicious tree-ripened mango.

Today I asked the MCC gardener if he thought the remaining ones are now sweet and delicious and ready to be harvested. He offered to bring his very long fruit-harvesting bamboo stick on Tuesday and we could try one to see if they are ready.

Tuesday? Will there still be mangoes in the tree on Tuesday? Working with MCC is about building relationships. What kind of relationships am I building with my neighbours, if I move through my gate as quickly as possible, locking it behind me, so no one follows me into the yard in search of mangoes? However, if they enjoy all “my” mangoes and I don’t even get one, how will this effect my willingness to build relationships.

So I sit on my deck with the sound of a tuk tuk (3-wheeled motorized taxi) working it’s way down the street; dogs exchanging greetings from house to house; and neighbours chatting next door, and wonder what to do?