Man walks into grocery store and demands all of their banana boxes when they’re empty

Empty boxesPhoto byJon MooreonUnsplash

** This article is based on nonfiction by actual events that I have experienced firsthand; used with permission.**

My adult daughter and I had a lot of errands to run on a recent outing. We saved the grocery store for last. Upon arrival, my daughter opted to remain in the vehicle. I ran in to collect the items on our short grocery list.

When I arrived at the produce aisle, the lady that worked in produce was busy talking with a man. I overheard the man tell the lady that he had to have ‘all’ of the empty banana boxes. He went on to tell her that she had to save them for the future for him.

He had a cart and was busy loading up the empty banana boxes. I found this rather strange because banana boxes don’t have a solid lid, there is a rectangular area that is cut out from the top of the box and it wouldn’t protect items for storage or shipping.

As the man loaded the empty banana boxes into his cart, he asked the clerk if the remaining boxes would still be there when he returned with his empty cart for more. She assured him that all of the empties would be right there in produce waiting for him.

When I finished my shopping and checked out, I went out to my car where my daughter was shaking her head and laughing. I inquired as to what was so funny and she told me that she had a video that I should watch.

As I watched the video I recognized the man and the banana boxes loading them in the pouring rain into the back of his pickup truck. He did not have a tarp or anything to cover them and he was stacking them as high as possible. The man then slid into his driver's seat and drove away from the grocery store parking lot. His boxes were now under a serious deluge of rain and he hadn’t tarped them.

We’ll never know why this man wanted empty banana boxes. Neither the produce employee nor my daughter and I could figure out what possible purpose empty banana boxes would have since they are open at the top. Do you have any ideas as to what empty banana boxes could be used for?

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