Plaintive wailing in Meijer, somewhat embarrassing

I agreed yesterday that I would go to the store for my mom.  There were only about three items on the shopping list and I knew that they would be easy to find.
 
This afternoon, before I left, I went and grabbed the shopping list, which had mysteriously tripled in length, and now included fresh produce.  I went to the store, picked up the things I could easily find, then moved on to the fresh produce.
 
The first thing on the list was green pepper.  I've never bought green pepper, I don't even like green pepper, I had no idea how to tell if it was good.  I picked up a few to see if maybe by touching them I would immediately be granted with a God-given knowledge of fresh produce.
 
Nope.
 
I tried to call my mom.  Ring ring ring ring.  No answer.
 
Call Dad.  Ring ring ring. "Hello."
 
So I ended up asking my dad how to tell if different types of produce were fresh.  Eventually, I found some that seemed to fit the criteria he gave me and managed to get out of the store without being crushed to death by produce.