Red Rose

My regular day job is not at the flower shop. I am a school teacher for most of the year, and the flower shop is my summer job. Contrary to what most people believe, I cannot afford to take several months off and do nothing, but I am lucky enough to love my summer job as much as I love teaching. Working at the flower shop is always filled with unexpected surprises. It can be a day filled with sadness when people come in to choose funeral flowers or it can be a day filled with happiness when there is a new birth or an anniversary. Yesterday was a happy day filled with red roses for five or six anniversary arrangements. Red roses everyone knows stand for love. They set the standard for other flowers. People will compare how expensive other flowers are by the red rose when in fact there are other flowers that cost much more: orchids or calla lilies for example.

When Valentine's Day falls on a weekend, I do come to the flower shop to help out. Why is it that men are so willing to pay such high prices to make their women happy. They come into the shop in an almost trance-like state. They don't blink an eye at the cost of a dozen red roses. They will ask for chocolates and stuffed animals, the bigger the better, and will walk out of the shop happy in knowing that for a little while they will have made their partner's life mean more. People tend to wax so eloquently about Valentine's Day, but for the florist it is a day of work and little rest. A couple of years ago, we had a huge blizzard here on Valentine's Day. Snow drifted up to two and three feet in the streets. It didn't matter. The flowers had to go out. The drivers had an extra body in each truck. One person to drive in the storm and one to get out to deliver the flowers. We somehow managed to get every order delivered. It was a Valentine's Day miracle!

Red roses are not my favorite flower. At the flower shop we have red roses everyday. For me, they represent more like the story of the movie, "American Beauty". They look so perfect and beautiful on the outside. Yes, they make a beautiful show, but really, they are perfectly ordinary. They are such a common flower. Give me other colored roses before the red. I will take orange or a vibrant pink, lavender, or even white before I would be happy with the red rose. To me colored roses should set the standard. They are far more rare in the shop than the red. So next time, think about what you are giving. Don't be a lemming and run with the crowd. Dare to step out and ask for something that has a hidden meaning. Something special that has significance to you and your loved one. Let the glory of the other colors shine on your lives!