Last one I bought, I had to wait 10 days before it was ripe
People think I am some sort of pervert sniffing the stem of every melon on the shelf while vainly trying to fine a ripe one!
Of course you must sniff them! That's the right thing to do. And yes, sigh, I agree with you, wait, wait, wait.
On the other hand, if you want one with an intoxicating perfume of promise, try shopping at one of the fruit and vegetable shops generally known around here as the "Türke" (Turkish person), though they are run by others, too. That's one of those with tables, often outside the shop, too, of large plastic crates of produce on display.
Because they are typically family businesses of very, very hard-working people, they plan with a different concept of buying and sometimes bring back, from the morning market, products which other, larger stores would no longer buy, i.e. slightly less than perfect to look at, or else very ripe.
As well as sniffing it, apparently you have to use your judgment on whether it feels heavy for its size. Pick up some similar sized ones and choose the one that feels the heaviest.
No idea why this is but I saw Nigella doing it on one of her cookery shows when she was in one of those posh markets shopping for ingredients, and I started doing it myself. Seems to be pretty accurate.
You don't smell. You knock. The sound will tell you if it's ripe or not: it should sound watery, like a water balloon.
It depends on the type of melon.
Water melons -knock.
Cantaloupe, Charentais etc -smell. If they smell delicious and ready to eat then they're ready to eat. If they have no smell at all, they may just go mouldy rather than ripen.
Buy a few everyday and you'll soon have your own little production line going...
Same as mangos (or is that mangoes?)!
Pineapple leaves pull out easily.
Fruit flies buzzing around most fruits = ready to eat