Forbidden Fruit

They say “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” They say “Forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest.” It appears that there is a quality in people which yearns for that which they are prevented from having, or are forbidden to have. The biblical story of the temptation of Eve puts her in a place where she can have anything she wants, except the apple; the apple is therefore what she wants. The story is instantly understandable to people of vastly different backgrounds and cultures, because wanting what we can't have is such a common trait.

Measured by this generality, I find that my own appetite is deficient. There are so many interesting, enjoyable, and desirable things in the world around me that I'm permitted to strive for, that I don't seem to have much interest in things that are forbidden. I don't know if this should be considered a flaw in my humanity, but I have the sense that makes it much easier for me to be happy.

I'm not trying to paint myself as someone who has never broken the rules. I've engaged in various victimless criminal activities; I've done things that were outside conventional morality. But in my own opinion there was no good reason for these things to be prohibited. Also, my reasons for doing them was not because they were forbidden; they were attractive for their own sake. And I firmly believe that I didn't hurt anyone else, physically or mentally, by these actions.

On the other side of the coin, I hate secrets. The few times I've had a personal secret that I couldn't share with friends or family it has eaten at my heart and made me utterly miserable. I imagine that if I were do do anything truly forbidden it would necessarily be a secret, and the long-term negative effects on my peace of mind would far outweigh the joy of the forbidden activity.

In the movie “Last Vegas”, 4 childhood friends go to Las Vegas at the age of 70 for a bachelor party. One of them, a married man, eagerly anticipates the opportunity for casual sex and advertises his availability at every turn. Eventually he meets an attractive woman less than half his age who is more than willing to be his partner. But when they are in his bedroom and she has removed her clothing he backs off. “What,” she asks, “you don't want to have sex with me?” “It would be spectacular!” he replies. “But whenever something spectacular happens to me, I want to be able to share it with my wife.” Maybe I'm not so unusual after all.

Written as an assignment for the writers' group at The Fountains in July 2014.  The assignment was to expand on a generalization.