Infrequent Nights

I'm confounded. Confused. Slightly annoyed. And mildly bemused. Why? Because, on a semi-regular basis (ie. about twice per week) someone carefully places a banana peel on my front step. He or she usually places it right in the centre. Slippery side down. The peel appears either overnight or early in the morning. I notice it when I first leave the house. This has been occurring for months. Even in the depths of winter this individual had the time and inclination to leave his banana peels on my step. That said, the spring weather seems to have either upped his or her banana consumption or motivation to confuse me. Three times in the past five days my step has been graced with a banana peel.

At first I thought it was possibly a coincidence. Maybe this guy eats bananas on his way to work and happens to finish around my place, so he tosses his peels here. But I've spent some time looking around the street and have NEVER noticed peels anywhere but my step. Furthermore, the peels are so carefully placed to be right in my path that it must certainly be intentional. Which brings me to question banana-man's motivation. Why me? Why bananas?

I've a couple of theories. None of them terribly satisfying. One theory is that whoever leaves the peels on my step knows that I've worked as a clown and therefore finds it amusing to put banana peels in my path as a sort of homage to a cliched slapstick joke. Another theory is that whoever is leaving the peels thinks I am the fellow who lived here before. My neighbours have told me that he was a bit of a scrapper and thus prone to having enemies. Maybe these enemies find it satisfying to leave peels on his (mis)perceived step.

Whatever the reasoning, I appreciate my peels. They add a bit of spice to my rather work-a-day life. While I'm mildly frustrated that I don't know who leaves the peels or why he leaves them, I think the mystery is more rewarding than knowledge would be. I don't NEED to know who leaves the peels. It gives me something to speculate about, and adds an element of intrigue (granted, intrigue of a rather mundane sort) to my otherwise unintriguing life.