I was waiting on line at Dean and DeLuca in Soho last week to buy a tin of Hediard's Santa Claus tea when I noticed the woman at the front of the line was buying a Buddha's hand. I had just discovered this peculiar and pricey citrus myself a couple of weeks ago, so I was dying to know what she planned to do with it.

The cashier rang up her purchases, which consisted of the Buddha's hand and one green zebra tomato. The total came to about $15. The woman paid, but seemed puzzled, and asked if there was some mistake.

While she patiently waited for the cashier to double check the price in the produce department, I approached her and said I couldn't help noticing that she was buying a Buddha's hand.

“Oh, is that what you call it?” she said. “I thought it was some kind of mutant meyer lemon.”

I explained that I had bought one a week or so ago, and although it made the whole living room smell great, it was of limited use in the kitchen, unless you want to flavor vodka, candy the peel, or make lembas a la Lord of the Rings.

Meanwhile, the guy on line behind the would-be buyer of the Buddha's hand apparently walked off with her bag by mistake. By the time the cashier came back, it was gone, and he had to refund her the money.

I assured her that it was money well not spent. I just wish I could have seen the look on the face of the man who took the pointy and pointless novelty fruit when he got home and opened the bags. That must be some kind of bad karma, walking off with someone else's Buddha's hand.