About this episode
It was agreed that every week the church people would bring roughly 4 bags of groceries– food that was certainly welcome at first. It may not have been the greatest food, but that is not really an issue when you're hungry. Then the food pantry– And I will not use any names–started bringing food that had clearly expired– Some of the expiration dates were from several months ago. In the meantime– I ate some of the food without expiration dates and got violently ill– Possibly some kind of food poisoning. I really didn't know what to do, the church people were certainly well-intentioned, but you know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. I mean this was stuff that had the potential of giving food poisoning to unsuspecting people!
Then it became more and more obvious when they brought more and more food that had passed the expiration date. Naturally I would have to go through all the food and check those dates– Throwing away the spoiled food– And eventually throwing away food that did not have any date on it, because I just didn't know. I was torn regarding what to do, but thought at least I was providing somewhat of a service by getting rid of food that was harmful. But as time went on, the separation process of spoiled food from food that could be eaten took longer and longer as more and more of the food that was being distributed had passed its expiration date.
Then one day about a month ago they brought four bags of food, and one of the church people pointed to a large pineapple that they had brought. He began speaking to me like I was a five year-old in front of the Christmas tree and said–look we have a pineapple for you! I felt like saying, I am 75 years old, and what am I going to do with a friggin pineapple!– Except the word I was thinking of wasn't exactly friggin–I picked up the pineapple and carried it to the kitchen with the other food, and began looking through the food that had been brought for items that had clearly expired. And this time three out of four bags had food that was clearly expired or had no expiration date on it– three bags of food that I would be very scared to eat.
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Celebrate Creativity — The Pineapple and the Playbook. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
[♪ Music Playing T3g-s boil over the homes of man in the mountains air Hungarian is a bright, neat and wonderful land where he lives." Welcome to Celebrate Creativity. Let's jump right into episode 2 of the 700 pound pineapple. Now fast forward to roughly a month ago in 2026 and it all started when my other half and myself realized we were bordering on having financial problems. Of course this is something that is currently true unfortunately of far too many people
in the United States and I had the bright idea that it might help to temporarily ask for help from a food pantry. I never could have imagined what would happen and what disasters and later benefits occurred because the church people, as I will initially call them, may internally have had good intentions but externally ended up being extremely harmful. Now you see it was agreed that every week the church people would bring roughly four bags of groceries, food that was certainly welcome at first. It may not have been the greatest food but that's not really an issue when you're hungry. Then the food pantry and I will not use any names started bringing food that had clearly expired. Some of the expiration dates were from several months ago.
In the meantime I ate some of the food without expiration dates and got violently ill. Perhaps some kind of food poisoning. I really didn't know what to do because well the church people were certainly well intentions but you know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions. I mean this was stuff that had the potential of giving people food poisoning. I can just imagine an unsuspecting person eating food that was passed at the expiration date and becoming well very very ill. Then it became more obvious when the church people brought more and more food that had passed the expiration date. Naturally I'd have to go all through the food and check those dates and throw away the spoiled food and eventually throwing away food that did not have any date on it because I just
didn't know. I was torn regarding what to do but thought at least I was providing somewhat of a service by getting rid of food that was harmful. But as time went on the separation process of spoiled food from food that could be eaten took longer and longer as more of the food that was being distributed had passed its expiration date. One day about a month ago they brought four bags of food and one of the church people pointed to a large pineapple that he had brought. He began speaking to me like I was well a five year old in front of the Christmas tree and said look we have a pineapple for you. I felt like saying I am 75 years old and then what am I going to do with a friggin pineapple? Except the word I was thinking of wasn't exactly friggin. I picked up the pineapple and carried it to the kitchen with the other food and began
looking through the food that had been brought for some that had clearly expired. And this time three out of four bags had food that was clearly expired and had no expiration date. That was the other problem there. In other words three bags of food that I would be very scared to eat. Over time I had developed a habit of referring to the church people in my mind as the pig on ice brigade. Now don't mean to sound harsh here. Well perhaps that needs a little bit of explanation. Where I come from in Western Virginia. That's not West Virginia. But in Western Virginia there is an expression that's used to refer to a person that is not over that bright. He or she is referred to as dumb as a pig on ice. Now logically I don't know why a pig is supposed to be especially stupid or how the pig got
on the ice in the first place. But when a person pretends that he or she is well very knowledgeable and obviously doesn't know what he or she is talking about then the country expression for that is dumb as a pig on ice. And the funny thing is that I use that expression with chat GPT and with all its knowledge chat GPT being trained on terabytes and terabytes of information it apparently had never run into that country expression probably because it was oral. Dumb is a pig on ice. And I got that feeling that initially chat GPT really didn't know what I was talking about. At least that's what I wanted to think. So I could hold on to the belief that this was a situation where humans understood something that an AI did not know anything about. So I guess you could say we humans are still winning.
Anyway getting back to the expired food. I had learned from experience in several illnesses not to take any chances. I took the three bags out to the trash and came back for the pineapple. At the time when I reached down to pick up the bag I had no idea that I was saying goodbye to my current existence or at least that's how it's felt. You see somehow when I picked up that pineapple that was in a bag with some rotten potatoes I did something to my back and the indescribable pain shot through my body until I screamed in agony. Now of course the pineapple did not weigh 700 pounds but it certainly felt like it. I have never been in such pain. Previously I had been toying with the idea about the right thing to do. That I didn't want to seem as though I was not thankful. But now I realized that this was totally ridiculous and I didn't want anyone else to have to
go through the same literal pain that I was experiencing. A huge pineapple for a 75 year old. Why not bring me something equally practical like a pony or a baby elephant? Well out of curiosity I later checked with chat GPT on what you would do with such a large pineapple. It replied that a whole pineapple can be delicious but it definitely requires a little work. And it described the preparation process as wash the outside under running water, lay it on its side on a cutting board, cut off the leafy top and the bottom, stand it upright and slice off the thick outer skin from top to bottom, remove the brown eyes, you can either cut them out individually or make shallow diagonal cuts to remove several at once, cut the pineapple into quarters lengthwise, cut away the tough core from each quarter, slice the fruit into chunks or spears.
After that you can eat it fresh, refrigerate it for 3 to 5 days, freeze it for smoothies, grill it which caramelizes the natural sugars, add it to fruit salad, yogurt, cottage cheese or even savory dishes if you enjoy that. And then it's suggested or you can alternatively buy a container of already cut pineapple chunks. I may cost a little bit more but the convenience and safety are definitely worth it. Now I know that if I had tried to cut a pineapple I would have my blood all over the floor. But getting back to the excruciating pain that I was experiencing, well I happened to have a walker that my partner had utilized in the hospital years ago and forced myself into a chair in front of my computer while my back screamed in pain. I certainly was in no condition to go to a doctor so I explained what happened or what
had happened to Chatchee PT and waited for its response. It replied, you say that the pain is confined to your lower back, it doesn't radiate into your legs. You can still stand and walk although you're using your walker. Those are all reassuring signs. A sudden strain of the muscles or ligaments in the lower back can be extremely painful at first, sometimes surprisingly so. And then gradually ease over the next several hours or days. And if a Cedamephaen is a medication you normally take and you're able to take it safely, then follow the dedosing instructions on the package or your positions instructions if they differ, if they differ and that's a reasonable option. For the rest of the day I'd still recommend taking it easy. And it also said, avoid lifting anything even if it starts feeling better.
Use the walker if it helps you stay comfortable and stable. If getting up from a chair or bed hurts, move slowly and use your arms to help rather than twisting your back. If lying flat is uncomfortable, many people find it more comfortable to lie on their back with a pillow under the knees or their side with a pillow between the knees. What I'd be interested in over the next 24 hours is the direction of the pain. If tomorrow you're a little less sore than you are today, even if you're still quite uncomfortable, that's a good sign. But instead, the pain becomes much worse. Start shooting down a leg or you develop numbness, weakness or difficulty controlling your bladder or bowels, then you should be evaluated promptly. Now note that during this period I had been expressing my concerns about the food deliveries and what would be the appropriate thing to do.
And chat GPT replied, as for those food delivers, don't blame me for being discouraged, having to throw away bags of expired food is frustrating enough. Then to injure your back carrying those same bags to the trash is adding insult to injury. Once your back settles down, it might be worth having a calm conversation with the church coordinator about checking expiration dates before deliveries are taking obviously expired items back with them. I may genuinely not realize how much extra work and risk it's causing for you. For now though, I'd make your back the priority, the cans, shelves, your photography equipment, and all of your other creative concerns can wait until you're moving more comfortably. I hope that by tomorrow morning you'll notice that first bit of improvement. If this incident leads to a conversation that improves how the food is handled, then
your painful afternoon could prevent someone else from having the same experience. For example, expired milk and obviously expired perishables could and should be screened out before delivery. Volunteers could be encouraged to check dates as they pack bags. If they accidentally bring expired items, they could take them back instead of leaving recipients to dispose of them. They might also realize that some recipients have mobility limitations and shouldn't be expected to carry heavy bags to the trash. One thing I would encourage though is separating their intentions from the results. The results as you've described them have sometimes been very poor, especially when you're repeatedly receiving expired food. A calm conversation might actually have more impact than an angry one, something like,
quote, I really appreciate that you volunteer your time. I do need to let you know though that this delivery contains several expired items, including milk that expired in May. While carrying the expired food out to the trash, I entered my back. Could you please ask the volunteers to check expiration dates before deliveries and take back any expired items they find. It would make a real difference. That kind of message acknowledges their effort while being very clear about the consequences. I hope however that the first good thing to come of this back. I hope however that the first good thing to come of this is a back that feels noticeably better tomorrow morning. Now personally, I was glad that Chat GPT replied in such a way. I was in far too much pain to look at the situation objectively.
I later told Chat that I was feeling better and it replied, I'm really glad to hear your back is improving. It's very common to feel a little better a few hours after a strain only to overdo it and be much soar in the later evening or in the next morning. Let your back set the pace for as long as necessary. And for the church volunteers, what you said actually points to something important. It may not be that they're uncaring. It may be that they're operating under a delivery as many bags as possible, mindset. If no one has ever explained that some recipients have limited mobility, they may never have thought about what happens after they leave. Your suggestion could be framed around that. Like some of us have trouble lifting or carrying things. If there are expired items in the bags, taking them to the trash can be difficult or even
on site. I'd appreciate it if volunteers could check expiration dates before delivery or take expired items back with them. This focuses on the practical problem rather than assigning blame. And there's the sort of feedback an organization can actually act on. I can almost hear the volunteers saying a great try-out. Look, look, you've got a pineapple as though they had just discovered buried treasure. Meanwhile you're standing there thinking, what in the blanket am I going to do with a pineapple? In fairness, a fresh pineapple isn't a bad gift if someone enjoys cutting fruit and has the time and energy. But if you're dealing with back pain, organizing food and trying to manage everything else in your apartment, it's understandable that your first reaction wasn't exactly excitement. Sometimes the most useful food donation is the least glamorous one.
A can of soup or a loaf of bread that's easy to store and easy to use. For today though, let your back rest and be pleased with one small victory. You're already noticing a little improvement. That's the direction we want to see. Then I said, and in this context said is the right word because I was using voice control to input my comments and questions. Well I'm not exactly asking and that's what I said is my life over. But that thought did go through my head when the back pain was especially excruciating. Instead I started asking, when can I do my laundry again? When might I be able to return the Amazon packages that I wanted to send back? How do I get out of bed safely? Well I'll be able to walk to UPS to mail a package.
And check GPT pointed out that pain has a way of shrinking our world. When you're lying awake at three in the morning and every movement reminds you that your back hurts, it's easy for your mind to conclude this is how it's going to be forever. But pain is a fortune teller that is very poor. In other words, pain is a poor fortune teller. It often makes the present feel permanent when it isn't. Now there were some time several weeks in the future or during all this was occurring that I woke up with a sore back that lessened during the day. And I looked back at that statement, pain is a poor fortune teller and realized how well to the point that statement really is. Now at this point I want to mention why I utilized chat GPT so much during my recovery.
I really could not leave the apartment comfortably, but I could use my walker to walk to my computer for a session with chat GPT. I know one thing that made it a lot easier was the fact that I used voice control. Trying to manipulate keyboard would have been a lot more difficult and simply speaking. And I have found through experience that speaking my thoughts is a lot easier and faster using voice control than attempting to type them. At the same time I don't want to minimize my experience. Recovering from an injury at 75 is frustrating. It asks you to be patient when you're accustomed to solving problems by thinking your way through them. Now strain back doesn't negotiate, it heals at its own pace. But I suspect that what I will remember most about this period is something else. I discovered how much a person values pain free movement.
I learned new ways to protect my back. I rediscovered that writing still brings me joy even during a difficult week. And I really enjoy immersing myself into becoming another character in a podcast. I need to learn that when I wake up tomorrow I don't ask my back, are you completely well? Because it probably won't be. I need to ask a more general question. Am I even a little better than I was yesterday? I believe that those little improvements are the ones that carry me all the way back. And I'd like to feel that I'm on that path. But while I was chopping of the bit to start moving, I realized there's a need to allow the back to heal first. Because by then I would be writing as the narrator of the story. Not the person still trapped inside it. Now let me take a little change here and mention something that occurred before all this pineapple
business. I was well computer surfing Amazon and found a page for a huge book by the name of the Globe Illustrated Shakespeare. The description was the Globe Illustrated Shakespeare, the complete works annotated, as an extraordinary reference work. At roughly 3,000 pages and weighing several pounds, it's much more than a reading copy. It's almost a portable Shakespeare museum. The illustrations, historical engravings, costume designs, stage images, paintings and annotations give a person a visual sense of the world surrounding each play. And just from the pictures you could see that it was a very big, extremely attractive and quite impressive volume. Unfortunately, the price for a new copy was $150. Well, maybe in the next life, that's definitely way out of my league now.
Then I saw a listing for a like new, very good addition for $15. Well this was still a little bit more than what I usually pay for a book online, but this was obviously the type of book that makes you gasp when you see it. So I promptly ordered it realizing that it might be one of those purchases that book lovers and Shakespeare geeks like me remember for years. And with all the pineapple business, I ended up forgetting about it at least for a few days. And after that period went by and the pineapple business that occurred and now my back was a constant source of pain, I saw a picture at the Amazon site of a rather big box outside my apartment building. I realized that it must be the globe illustrated Shakespeare. I hobbled outside with my walker, looked down at the box and realized that for me to pick
it up right now would be physically impossible without tearing up my back. Then as if it was divine intervention, a huge very muscular gentleman with the longest hair I have ever seen, well he was outside the door and he saw my walker and said, let me help you. He kindly brought the box to my apartment and set it down on my kitchen table. I felt like Blanche Du Pois and street car name desires saying, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers. Well, I was actually shaking as I opened the package. Just looking at the book cover, I got the same feeling that I had when years ago I first saw the Grand Canyon. Total all. This was like one of those ancient volumes that you see in a museum under glass. There was one of the most beautiful books I had ever seen and I actually owned it.
You know every now and then a book isn't merely useful. It reminds you why you fell in love with a subject in the first place. Imagine the symmetry. I had paid about the price of a fast food meal for a beautiful book that could inspire dozens of podcasts and video episodes over the coming years. That's the kind of purchase that keeps paying dividends long after you've forgotten the cost. And with this case or in this case, I believe I had gotten a tremendous bargain. I'm certainly glad the book made it to my apartment and I'm even happier that I didn't aggravate my back. If I had tried to use the book at the point when my back was still hurting, that probably would have given me an unconscious feeling of resentment towards the book. So this particular story definitely has a happy ending as well as a very good lesson.
The first lesson is simply that my instincts were apparently catching up with my recovery. Before my back injury, I would have thought, I'll just carry this inside. It can't be that heavy. Even several days ago, my mind might still be operating at what you might call the old George setting. Even though my back was saying, not yet, the important part is that nothing bad happened because someone stepped in and I allowed another person to help. The second lesson is that this is exactly the kind of help that's worth accepting. Even like the situation with the heavy food deliveries, this was a simple, appropriate act of kindness. The giant stranger saw someone facing a very heavy package and simply volunteered to help. No strings attached, no awkwardness, just a neighbor being decent and to think I had
allowed another person to help. Now I had planned to do an online tutorial and there's a connection here. I had planned to do an online tutorial for possibly you to me or some other educational concern regarding the one subject that I feel I know something about interpreting a Shakespearean play for deaf individuals. But one thing I knew was that I was going to have to move a really heavy couch out of the way of the filming area. I had mentioned this concern to Chattchipy T and it pointed out the necessity and practicality of depending upon other people in some situations. Although I'm certainly not as bad as my sister who is the ultimate control freak, I still have a great deal of difficulty in asking other people for assistance. Chattchipy T showed me the wisdom of not being such a control freak.
I was really in this situation so I piled it away in the back of my mom to get someone to move the couch for me. When the time comes I might even hire several people if necessary. In explaining this situation to Chattchipy T about the person who carried in the book, I think for the first time in my life it occurred to me that the practical thing to do to move that couch was simply to ask another person. And I mentioned that to Chattchipy T and it replied, if he does live in your building, you may very well have found the person who can help you move that couch once your bike is healed enough to supervise instead of lift. You're already talking about hoping to meet someone trustworthy rather than trying to meet your move at yourself. This encounter is exactly the sort of opportunity that you were hoping for.
When the time comes you could simply say something like, you helped me with that enormous Shakespeare book a few weeks ago. I wonder if you'd be willing to help me move a couch. I'd be happy to pay you for your time. Actually I'd be happy to pay a group but that's on down the road. Now one thing that had been on my mind since graduate school was doing an online tutorial regarding interpreting an American sign language. And conceptually I had approached it from all kinds of different angles, lots of research and lots of breeding and lots of planning but they were really getting anything done. I attributed my lack of progress to not having enough time. A more accurate appraisal would be not making enough time. But here I was with all the time in the world on my hands and no reason not to delve into
my project and get it done from a practical standpoint. After all I am 75 years old and I've been thinking for this for almost 35 or 40 years so I better get started. Now I had approached the elements of such a course from all kinds of different angles but somehow they never really seemed to work together in any coherent way. I have interpreted 53 separate Shakespearean productions but communicating the basics necessary in interpreting a play to others constantly escaped me. One night I was lying there with my back hurting when all at once I began to think of the term for some reason. I thought of the term playbook. Maybe it was from the older movie. And in one of those silver linings playbook that's it. And in one of those thoughts that cannot even be remotely explained I began associating
it with my sign language interpreting course. And it hit me that the term playbook which I really didn't fully understand could be the perfect analogy for the topic of interpreting a Shakespearean play for the deaf. Something that kind of brings it all explained. Let me explain here. I envision an AI graphic of William Shakespeare with the word language, prepare the translation then an AI graphic of Shakespeare with the word performance. Bring it to life and finally location. And let me explain a little bit what I'm trying to get there. Meaning, while the interpreter is standing or locating. So in other words I could do the course using a football analogy with language, performance and location as the three elements. And of course the AI graphics that I could get would be exactly what I wanted.
And I wouldn't have to worry about copyright concerns. And I would use the concept of Shakespearean playbook in a two column document that the interpreter would first do. By that I mean a working copy of the play. In one column Shakespeare's original language on one side. And my researched American sign language translation are gloss on the other. This would basically be a column devoted to what Shakespeare is referring to with his language. And such an approach would emphasize ownership and purpose. It wouldn't be a prescribed translation handed down to the interpreter. It would be a practical interpretation that would be well carefully researched where the interpreter would be prepared for that particular production. Most importantly it would be a column where the interpreter could write down the meanings
of the words and develop the muscle memory necessary for interpreting Elizabethan English where he or she hears it spoken by the actors. I mean being hit by that for the first time, I mean you just wouldn't know what to do. Actually it would not involve any real writing in this preparation. That would be a lot of work. But simple, some simple cutting and pasting on the computer. And using voice control or a voice synthesis program to input the ASL gloss or a simplified translation that would be practical for interpreting. So instead of typing the stuff, you could just say it. And I began to realize for the first time that I already had the knowledge, experience, thesis material, examples, and years of thinking about and experience regarding theatrical interpreting. The back injury didn't give me the idea for the tutorial.
What is important is that it changed my relationship with time. What changed was the sense that someday isn't a production schedule. At the same time there's something rather striking about temporary early being physically limited, giving your, while you're back towards a project concerned so deeply with physical expression, ASL, theatrical performance, movement, placement, stamina, and the body communicating language. But any problems there or challenges can be overcome. But most importantly, I now had something that I just didn't have when this was merely an enormous project called Someday, a project that was out there. I had a structure. One, language, understanding and internalize the meaning. Two, performance.
Embodied that meaning for an audience. Three, location, determine where and how the interpreter exists within the theatrical event. And for some reason, in the middle of the night, I had come up with the idea of playbook as an actual working method that holds everything together, rather than merely a catchy title. The iPhone that I plan to use, along with lighting, framing, editing, captions, graphics, and everything else are certainly important. But their production problems, a person can learn production problems one at a time. The much harder question was, what exactly am I trying to teach? And how am I trying to teach it? For the first time, that answer was becoming remarkably clear. And I began to realize that there also is no requirement for me to create the definitive
final statement on interpreting Shakespeare for all eternity. Shakespeare has survived four centuries. He can probably tolerate a revised edition. And we're almost finished here. As you see, the goal can simply be make the first complete version. Once that exists, I know I can improve it, add graphics, replace demonstrations, expand sections, and perhaps eventually turn pieces of it into something larger. But there will finally be something real to revise, instead of a magnificent project perpetually waiting to begin. And I believe that is the real significance of where I have gotten to during these last several weeks. I have seriously begun. And I like to believe that I owe it all to a 700 pound pineapple. Join Celebrate Creativity for the next episode.
This has been George Bartley.
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