Orange you glad I asked?

How long do oranges keep in the fridge? This question is now forefront in my thoughts. I need to do my research some time today, when I have a chance. You see, my teenaged cousin was doing a fundraiser for a school trip. To raise money for the trip she was selling crates of fruit. One weekend recently my girlfriend and I went out to Long Island to help my mother pick up and move a piece of furniture she had bought from some garage sale or tag sale or something. While we were in the house, she explained about the fundraiser, and asked if we wanted to help out. Hmmm. Help my cousin go on her trip, and get lots of fruit in the process? Done and done. So I signed up for the big crate of oranges, for about $35. Then my girlfriend decided to buy a box too, for her family, because they love fruit. So there you have it. Two forms filled out, $70 given over to the fund, and our empty fridge eagerly awaiting the oranges.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. The oranges have been delivered. My aunt was helping my cousin make her deliveries. Given that they too live on Long Island, it made sense to get our oranges to my parents. We'd see them sooner or later, no? Well, two crates of oranges is a whole lotta fruit. Not so easy for Mom or Dad to lug into the city and carry around. Schedule-wise, not so easy for us to get out to LI. What to do?

First move. Mom came into the city on Sunday to meet us all for dinner. She brought with her two bags of fruit. One contained some of the mixed assortment that my brother had ordered. (Yes, there are other city-dwellers waiting for fruit in this deal, don't even ask....) And one contained a smattering of our oranges. We decided to send those back to my girlfriend's family with her, because they were more likely to eat them this week. OK. Girlfriend's crate: partially delivered. My crate, and the remainder of hers: sitting in M&D's fridge.

Next move. I need to borrow a ski bag from Dad for an upcoming trip to Colorado. (SWEET!!!!) Dad works in the city here, so he brought the bag in. When I called him to arrange meeting up to get the bag, he informed me that he also has a "few oranges" for me. OK. Now we are getting into my crate. Progress.

Here's the issue. Not only am I unlikely to eat all of the oranges he is bringing me today before my trip, but because of the trip we won't be able to even pick up another batch for a while, let alone get it to my girlfriend's family. So. The better part of our $70 orange cache will remain in M&D's fridge for the time being.

Which brings us back to my question? How long can oranges stay good in the fridge?

(Addendum question: why didn't we just give my cousin some money for her trip??)