And before my Digicel brethren and sistren lynch me, may I note I am not talking about a handset from their big competitor.

There are things about Jamaicans that though not new, still amaze me. And this one has to do with the aforementioned sour-tasting fruit. Recently came across a story in The Star where a man was in court facing a charge of assault. When he was called before the magistrate, a number of limes (green ones apparently) fell from his pocket. When asked by the understandably speculative jurist what he was doing with them, he told the stunned court that he uses them for luck and always carries them with him. I expect there was not a straight face in the crowd.

What made it even more hilarious for the court was when the judge said another accused came the week before with garlic. I suppose that would work if the noble magistrate was Count Dracula. But wouldn't that make it difficult for the magistrate considering this session was held during the daytime? Hmm, guess I'm not the expert on vampirism I thought I was.

But I digress. Now I have long wondered what exactly would cause people to believe that limes would yield those desired results. Guess limes are to us, what rabbits' feet are to Americans. Or four-leaf clovers are to the Irish. But I have never been a fan of limes, and the fact some people swear by their potency is beyond me. To make it worse, I am allergic to citrus fruits (wreck my sinuses), so carrying all those limes around would make my life worse, not better. Furthermore, don't limes smell? I mean, all things have some kind of smell, but what I mean is it's not the pleasant smell you want to whiff over and over. At least not me.

When the telecoms company in question changed its name from Cable and Wireless to the acronym LIME, I thought it was a bad idea. Takes up less space when you're filling out a form of course, but not the snazzy, chic type of name you would have expected. I remember a song in which the DJ says "squeeze yuh lime when di heathen a pass". I would figure that your best defence against evildoers would be to get on your knees (figuratively or otherwise) and pray. But that's just my opinion.

But it looks like limes are here to stay. The accused was asked to pay a fine, a good portion of which he forked over right then and there. So he apparently won't be spending any time behind bars. Maybe there's something to the lime after all.

By the way, I don't know what happened to the garlic guy.

Tell me your lucky symbol at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com