Now I've seen everything

Ulysses and I went to Pierce's, the small, locally owned supermarket near our home last night. Walking past the apples in the produce department, I noticed a display of clear plastic tubs, each containing 12 ounces of sliced apple. "Garden Cut: A fresh experience," read the labels. Price: $2.99. I looked at the price per pound of the whole apples that these tubs were nestled among: 87 cents.

Is it really that challenging to slice up an apple?

Is there anyone who finds the pre-slicing of a couple of apples to be worth $2, plus degradation in looks and flavor?

When do you need 12 ounces of sliced apple all at once? That's the equivalent of four medium-sized apples. Do you open the package and eat a few slices at a time, then come back the next day to the heap of pre-sliced apple getting yuckier and yuckier? Or is the idea that you can treat your friends and family to a cornucopia of stale apple? It's as easy as popping off a lid! (And earning the amount of money it requires to take home $3. For most people, that takes more time and effort than slicing four apples.)

A bad deal if ever there was one.

There was a Web address: http://indyfruit.com. I tried to find what sort of preservative they used to keep the apples from turning past the moderate shade of dun yellow-brown that they had become from being cut. There was little information, besides the promise that Garden Cut would increase my produce sales and minimize product loss.

Remind me to ask the produce manager at Pierce's in a few weeks how well the sliced apples have been going.