GRGR 1,3 fate of the bananas / 8:20 /

[Cometman]

not being human-centric, for a moment: consider the fate of the
bananas, certainly given a choice, they'd rather linger on the tree,
even though in Nature they'd likely wither and fall off or be eaten by
insects....
if we abandon ideas of hierarchy and the Great Chain of Being to the
extent that we question Their right to hold a War once in awhile, then
the rightfulness of plucking those bananas and chopping them up comes
into question too
the bananas have their own druthers, if I were one I'd want to stay on
the tree, grow and thrive, not wither, not be eaten by insects, not
even be chopped up and made into a glorious musaceous breakfast, but
suck sunlight and sustenance and become like the giant Adenoid of
bananas, taking over the rooftop and eventually the court of St James
myself

but (accepting limitations with good grace) would relish what I could
of life and surrender to whichever fate the Pointsman of my destiny
switched me (and whenever I was given a choice, do something I thought
would lead to my betterment, however I was defining that at the moment)
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anyway, some of the bananas end up in wax paper in Bloat's
kangaroo-hide musette bag (probably not the first choice of the
kangaroo, for that matter), along with Bloat's other impedimentia.

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8:20 and other mythical hours.  I was thinking maybe 8:20 had something
to do with Armistice Day and the time one observed a moment of silence,
but haven't found any evidence of that.  When I was in grade school in
the early 60's I think we actually had a moment of silence, and I think
it was at a particular time.
But maybe 8:20 being a mythical hour just means Pynchon was a night owl
and never saw this part of the day.  Years in my life working the night
shift have happily passed during which 8:20 am was a mythical hour.

Or, maybe the typing pool at ACHTUNG got to work at 7 and took their
first break at 8:20.