Ideas of Passion

By Chris Mittelstaedt
October 7, 2011
Reading Time: 2 mins.

By Chris Mittelstaedt

It’s a strange feeling when someone dies who affected your life but whom you never knew personally. I’ve found myself grieving over the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955–2011). In the early 1980s, I spent countless hours on my family’s Apple IIe playing Time Zone and Dig Dug. I can still remember the “beep!” and quick tapping clicks of the disk drive booting up. I had Jobs’ Time magazine cover pinned above my desk next to a poster of the space shuttle. Beyond the memories of a world that has moved from rotary telephones, through flexible floppy disks, and into the i-connected world we have now, the loss of Steve Jobs feels like the loss of a large piece of American business creativity. I find myself wondering if there will ever again (in my lifetime) be such an inspiring icon of innovation.

What I love most about Jobs’ story is he believed in what he thought was right and proved that even though exercising that passion may not be pretty or easy, it can bear wonderful results and change the world (see iPod, iPad, etc.). Some writers have noted his ability to see into the future, but what’s so amazing about Jobs (and so American) is that he didn’t see the future—he made the future happen. It was not preordained or handed to him; it was dreamed and willed. As a business owner, I will continue to be greatly inspired by Jobs.

Passion exists in the fruit world as well as the creative world. We have passion fruit in most of The FruitGuys cases this week, and I want to remind folks of its ripeness rule of thumb: Ugly = Ripe. Passion fruit is a simple and elegant fruit. Purple, smooth, and egg-shaped when young, it mocks you with its mystery: Am I ready? How would you eat me if you could? But passion fruit needs to be shriveled, wrinkly, and aromatic before it is truly ripe. When it looks like you should compost it, that’s the perfect time to cut it in half and scoop out the juice, jelly, and seeds within for a fantastic vitamin C–filled treat.

Many regional cases will also feature kiwi berries. A smaller, smooth-skinned cousin to kiwi fruit, these sweet-tarts are eaten whole—but note that if you have any sensitivity to latex, the outer skin of kiwi berries (like the skin of figs) may not sit well with you.