We have this orange tree in our backyard which hangs slightly over our back fence which runs alongside a two-lane road. Of all the foliage that is visible to the street (between our yard and our neighbors’), the orange tree definitely stands out as the most picturesque, if not most edible.
However, there’s a disturbing reality coming to light in regards to this tree: people love to steal its fruit.
What the heck…
I have witnessed, on more than one occasion, someone greedily picking oranges off of our tree from outside our fence. They park their cars on the road behind our house, sneak over to our fence and jump and grab oranges (it’s a bit tall). 
People have used stray boards in an attempt to knock down oranges; I’ve even witnessed a man bring his own pole to pull down our oranges. This man I actually stopped and asked what it was he was doing. Not knowing that I lived in the orange tree house, he explained to me that he was the landscaper of this house and that the owner didn’t mind if he took some oranges for himself. When I dramatically revealed to him that I, in fact, lived at the house from which he was stealing oranges, he did a literal double-take and stammered, “Isn’t this the… is this… ooooooh! This is the wrong house!” (No other house on our street has an orange tree, by the way.) I told him to take the oranges he had but that if he ever wanted more to please come over and ask first.
The funny part is that the oranges aren’t really that good. They look fantastic. But they taste like depression.
Just two days ago I saw another car pulled over with a man out jumping to reach the oranges. Fools.
And it made me wonder – what kind of people are these? Who actually steals fruit? Or maybe it’s an accepted part of society and I (and God Almighty) just missed that memo. Which made me wonder all the more…
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — For the war-beaten orphans of the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, this big old shoe fits.
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