The discussion turned to Pimentos. Just what exactly IS a Pimento? I certainly can't recall ever seeing a Pimento Tree. Do they grow on vines or in the ground? How are they harvested?
Then we wondered, who came up with the idea to put a Pimento INTO an olive in the first place and why??? What could have possibly prompted this concept? It makes no sense. Let's stick this floppy red thing inside this oval green thing. Yeah .. that's the ticket. But first ... we're gonna need a hole. Not too big so that it goes all the way thru to the other side. No, just big enough to stick one of them Pimentos into it.
Now this thought then prompted an even deeper discussion. As the Olive/Pimento concept took hold and time passed, olive stuffing must now be a large industry .. therefore creating numerous employment opportunites. I assumed there were HOLERS and there were STUFFERS. For some reason, call it geographic profiling on my part I guess, I pictured these jobs being held by migrant Mexicans, although I'm not sure why. Family trades & skills passed down from generation to generation.
But then, my friend burst my bubble. She told me that with today's modern technology, they have machines that HOLE the olives and STUFF them with the Pimentos AUTOMATICALLY .. and all in one motion. Amazing!!!! But also sad. Because now I fear that there are entire generations of migrant Mexicans who are now unemployed. Obsolete craftsmen whose industry has passed them by. So I will drink my next Martini with mixed emotions. Yes, I will still order/make them with 4 olives .. but I will now savor these olives like never before. No longer will I just pop them into my mouth and chew them up. Nay, I will first suck out the Pimento and enjoy that separately. I will then stare longingly into the gaping hole it has left behind .. ever wondering if it could have been made better and with more care, pride of workmanship and love .. by a migrant Mexican.
Sigh.