Berry Casual Analogy

I was blackberrying with some girl friends on Sunday. We were talking about dating. Apparently dating is a big thing, since it occupies much of the mindspace of many I know.

These girls, I should say, are beautiful. Strong. Good-natured. Intelligent. Opinionated!! Self-assured. I was pondering matchmaking for some people I know and as I was picking berries (which are really weeds here) I was thinking, gosh, why haven't they been "picked" yet?!?

So. Here goes. But instead of telling you the analogy, I'm just going to tell you that it is an analogy, and then tell you about blackberry bushes, and let the brambles speak for me. 


Plant Blackground
Blackberry plants are thorny. It's very easy to get snagged and snared and ripped and cut and punctured and slivered and get hung up on a thorn when you're trying to escape.

Maturity Cycle
Blackberry bushes have fruit at all stages on one branch. It's not impossible or improbable for there to be a blossom, a little nub where the fruit is just starting to grow, a little green berry, a greenish reddish berry, a red berry, a reddish purplish berry, a purple berry, a blackberry not quite ripe enough to pick, a blackberry ready to be plucked, berries that are mush, and berries that have simply come to maturity and then shriveled up from all the attention of the sun. (It should be noted that shriveled blackberries are not as in high demand as shriveled grapes.)

Determining Ripeness
Sometimes, a picker might think that a blackberry is ready at the almost-ripe stage. After all, then the berry is black. But the berry is still a little tart. So you need to decide: is it better to have a tart berry or a berry that is maybe just a tad bit past the primo stage of ripeness -- a little messy, but with flavor that bursts in your mouth?

Harvest
After all, once you pick a berry, it's picked. So:
Is your basket full of tart berries?
Ripe ones?
Maybe you  accidentally dropped  a few of them on the ground while making the transfer to your basket, and it's regrettable?
Past-ripes?

Harvesting Purpose
I suppose what type of berry you're looking for depends on the purpose of your picking:
Are you picking for jam?
Pie?
Do you only want the biggest berries, for re-sale value?
Do you pluck the shriveled ones hoping that the plant will regenerate and bear berries again so you'll get a more bountiful harvest?
Or do you just watch other blackberry pickers as they wander up and down the side of the road, partaking of nature's delights?

Post-Harvest
Are you ever in search of the biggest, most flavorful, most attractive berry, so you eat them until you're sick to your stomach and swear off blackberries for awhile?
Or do you know when to stop eating/picking, and savor the sweet flavor of the last berry?