I was at the market with a friend the other day and there were no ripe bananas.  I told him to put them into a paper bag to ripen quicker.  He was going to just put them in the cabinet but I told him they needed to be in a paper bag.  I knew the paper bag was necessary because when fruit is picked, it releases ethylene gas.  That’s what causes fruit’s chlorophyll to be broken down, causing color changes.  It also causes starches to be converted into sugars, making the fruit sweet.  It causes acids to be broken down, causing it to taste less sour; and pectin to be broken down, making it softer.  Putting the fruit in a loosely closed paper bag traps the ethylene gas inside and accelerates ripening. It made me think of the times I can use some ripening myself, times it would have been better for me to have stayed to myself, sealed up in my own personal atmosphere rather than out in the open where I’d stay green for so much longer.