Melon Politics

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Today, André took me into town to pick up some melons. The tasty fruit is pretty much the same as a cantaloupe, although the outer rind is slightly different than what I'm used to back home.

Apparently, the mayor is the chief supplier of melons for the village. He sells the fruit from the back garage of his home. It takes a local's inside knowledge to find this stand. The simple "Vente" sign a block away, adjacent to the school, is hardly going to draw in the tourists. Besides, the mayor's melon stand is only open for one hour, between 11:00 and noon.

We arrived just before close. The melons had been picked through pretty thoroughly, although we could see that some of the best specimens had been reserved for regular customers. The mayor seemed disappointed by his latest crop. They were ripening too small. I'm not sure, but I think there was some discussion about the drought. Since the mayor couldn't offer André a quality melon, he instead picked out about a dozen small ones and said we could take them for free.

I think this is what you call keeping the constituents happy in a small town.

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