The Mango Tree

There are many nice benefits of living in a tropical climate. Topping that list is not having to deal with snow. Coming in second is being surrounded by things that are possible in a temperate climate. Like say a mango tree.

As I mentioned before, I have a mango tree behind my house. This is really a dream come true for me. I can still remember the first time my dad bought a mango home and told us before we ate it how great they were. He wasn’t lying. It was love at first taste. So that is what makes right now a special time of the year as this delicious fruit is in its prime season. Which is awesome. The only problem is my tree isn’t as productive as others in the community. There is one tree in particular that has so many mangoes that if it were at my tree I would probably die of mango overdose - which won’t be a bad way to go out when you think about it.

But that’s not to say my tree is a complete disappointment.


It’s just not as good as some others in my community and has been slower to turn the mangoes to ripe. As a result, during the last two weeks, I have been gifted quite a few tasty suckers by a wonderful family across the street. It has only heightened my desire for more.

One other problem with my tree is a lot of the mangoes aren’t easily accessible. The tree is pretty high up and the branches aren’t made for a person of my weight to go climbing up them. You know what this means? Exploiting child labor. However, in my case, I had quite a few youngsters that were interested in heading up the tree and pick off some of the ripe mangoes.

As you might imagine, I was a little scared by this proposition at first. But quickly I remembered a lot of these kids are experts at this sort of thing. So I signed on. Not aware of the Panamanian child labor laws, we quickly agreed to payment for the work in the form of mangoes. Sounded good to me. Them too.

So I took my leadership position under the tree and offered words of encouragement and caution. With ‘cuidado’ (meaning careful) being the most common phrase.


Everything went off without a hitch. The mangoes were picked and pooled together. After everybody safely made it out of the tree, I dispensed the mangoes accordingly. Everyone was happy.

Well, except you the reader in the States, who doesn’t have a mango tree in your yard.