Being Nice Helps You Make Friends

You've been told to be nice since you were a child.  Nice can be rather vague.  What exactly does it mean to be nice?  In my mind it means being kind, generous, agreeable, pleasant, respectable, friendly, forgiving and tactful.  It means going out of your way to treat others in the way that you want to be treated.  But that's just me.

There are, of course, lots of reasons to be nice, and now we have one more: the data support it.

This week, a look how science has proven that being nice helps you make friends.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "I never needed anybody's help in any way, but now these days are gone and I'm not so self assured." – The Beatles, "Help" (Lennon-McCartney)

Being Nice = Friends

They Say Tomato. We Say Tasteless

Plant geneticists say they have discovered an answer to a near-universal question: why are store-bought tomatoes usually so tasteless?  Yes, they are often picked green and shipped long distances and likely refrigerated, which destroys their flavor and texture. But now researchers have discovered a genetic reason that diminishes a tomato’s flavor even if the fruit is picked ripe and coddled.

The unexpected culprit is a gene mutation that occurred by chance and that was discovered by tomato breeders. It was deliberately bred into almost all tomatoes because it conferred an advantage: It made them a uniform luscious scarlet when ripe.

Whatever the color, I only eat them in tomato sauce or soup.  The Kitchen Manager at Amy's in Medford can attest to my reaction to eating fresh tomatoes; it is not a pretty sight.

This week, a look at the improving flavor of tomatoes.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see." – The Beatles, "Strawberry Fields Forever" (Lennon-McCartney)



They Say Tomato, We Say Tasteless