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Battling Difficult Times with Pineapples and Plants…

2 min readJun 23, 2025

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It feels like we can’t ignore the news, but with ICE, Iran, Gaza, Ukraine, etc., it’s not easy to process. I’ve spent a bit of time angrily commenting online, but that’s fruitless. I’ve been trying to focus on volunteering and being a positive presence. This week, I spent about 16 hours assisting the soup kitchen and another four at the non-profit used book store. Volunteering at the reggae concert involved another 7 hours, but I had a chance to engage with a thousand-plus people who came through my gate. I coached for a couple of days at CrossFit and did a couple of sunset walks with Abbey. I’ve found that being exhausted makes for a good night’s sleep.

My senses have vibrated when I fell in love or experienced a difficult break-up. The same occurred when Caylee was born, loved ones have passed, and I’ve either faced big challenges or celebrated overcoming them.

Many years ago, a friend’s mother was dying of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). I’d read that your pain could be helped by doing good deeds for others. We spent a day doing good deeds. Donating, volunteering, and buying gifts for friends and family. We couldn’t do anything to change her mother’s situation, but we could be a force for good.

I’ve liked working at the used bookstore. I’m surrounded by books, and I can organize and purge to my heart’s delight. On Tuesday, I came across an old stool with a broken webbed seat. I asked the proprietor, Annie (who lost her home and pets in the Lahaina fire), whether she wanted to keep the chair. She mulled it over momentarily and said, “I’ve wanted to use that as a plant stand.” A couple of days later, Cherry and I picked up a flowering plant and placed it onto the ‘busted chair’. Something broken became something beautiful.

I used the self-checkout on Thursday as I did my weekly shopping at Whole Foods. The young lady monitoring the area came by to tell me that my pineapple was a Sugarloaf pineapple and not the typical Maui Gold Pineapple. Sugarloaf pineapples from Kauai are otherworldly good and rarely available. I was happy to know that I’d unknowingly picked one up. She shared that she’d never had one. After loading the groceries into my car, I returned to the store, bought another Sugarloaf pineapple, handed it to the young lady, and headed home.

Sugarloaf Pineapple

Just as the pandemic challenged us, it also inspired us. We’re at another such point in time. A time to turn up the kindness.

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Trey Whitaker
Trey Whitaker

Written by Trey Whitaker

Full-time volunteer and part-time CrossFit coach. Former paratrooper, marathoner, and jujitsu black belt.

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