Life of the Lintee Bean

I walked my usual route home tonight, past little old neighbor man’s (LONM) house. He was waiting. He hadn’t seen me in a week, and let me know he’d waited until nearly 8 pm for me on Friday. I’d worked late, couldn’t be helped.
He had two cucumbers for me, fresh off the vine.
He wanted to cut me some flowers (phlox). So, I accompanied him as he ran with scissors (large ones) to the back yard. Okay, he didn’t run. I just tease him that he runs with scissors. He walks with them. He does point them outward, and as he talks with his hands he is guilty of waving scissors about in what seems an unsafe manner.
So, he cut me a bouquet of phlox, taking care to select the ones he thought were nicest, and choosing some of each color.
As we were walking back to the front yard, he pointed out some other plants. He noted they were mint. He asked if I’d tasted it before. I’ve tasted mint, but not right out of a garden. We had it growing up, and I remember enjoying the scent of it, but I don’t recall ever eating it. He plucked some and offered it to me.
I don’t generally eat anything right out of a garden. I prefer to wash it a bit. Gardens are homes to insects and animals and all kinds of “nature” that I prefer not to ingest. He told me to eat it.
“Now?” I asked.
“Yes, now, just eat it.” LONM said.
“Like, eat the leaves?” I asked, still looking at it, thinking I could see the dirt and maybe a bug…
“Well, just chew on it a bit, you can spit it out after you taste it.” He replied.
I stared at it some more.
LONM took it, and with a “Like this” he chomped off a big chunk of it and chewed away.
He then plucked another clump and offered it to me. Like a kid that couldn’t refuse a dare, I bit into it. ACK! Not good. Not good at all! I chewed unhappily. When he told me I could spit, I did so. However, spitting out a bunch of chewed up leaves isn’t like spitting a piece of gum. There were bits of leaves all over in my mouth, impossible to spit out. Blech.
I thanked him and walked home.
Several sodas, spicy Indian food, and a popsicle later, I think I’m getting rid of the nasty mint taste.
Meanwhile, my phlox are making the kitchen smell quite lovely.
I’ll eat the cucumbers later. After the mint escapade, I’m not keen on eating more produce tonight.