Every so often, when the grey demands it, my sister and I visit the hair salon for the sake of those forced to look at us. We order wine from the pizzeria next door to the salon, then we sip that wine and catch up while some of our favourite people do their best to make us look respectable and feel good. (The latter always works. As for the former…there’s only so much they can do.)

We end the excursion with a visit to the pizzeria to have our usual: Ham, salami, bacon, mushroom, garlic with extra chilli, pineapple and avocado. And in the latter lies the problem.

On one occasion, we arrived at the restaurant sporting perfectly coiffed hair, only to be told that there was no avocado. It was out of season. We ate the pizza sans avocado, but it just wasn’t the same, and, therefore, neither was the experience. We had a good-natured banter session with the manager about a can-do attitude. There is, after all, a Woolies and a Checkers right across the road.

And so was born an unspoken agreement: we ask whether they have avocado when we order the wine. That way they have an hour or two to procure some before we order our food. And we’re happy for them to add it to the bill.

I am, however, rather bemused that the manager does not seem to grasp the principle. While he does manage to give my sister and me a great pizza by offering to buy avocado, he sadly misses out on offering others the same (and making money off it to boot).

Offer me the avo. Offer them the avo. Offer everyone the avo, dammit! Sure, some won’t want to pay extra, but at least give your patrons and customers the choice.

PS: This post was written with no consideration for carbon footprint. I know it’s wrong to eat out-of-season food and I’m kind of sorry. In my defence: I have been known to plant trees.