flowers

So what’s this thing with flowers anyway? Has it always been so symbolic for humans? I know in high school, English A or what ever the course was called, we read Hamlet and had to write a paper on it. One of the suggestions for thesis was the meaning of flowers. Today I can’t even remember that there was anything about flowers in Hamlet! My thesis was that Ophelia was too good for this earth. Oh no: I’m not a fan of drama or anything…

I went to buy flowers for my new boss and another new co-worker that starts tomorrow and on Monday. Two stock-conservative, not so spunky men. It ought to be potted flowers so the welcome last longer than the newbee free ride so to speak. We don’t want the flowers to be withered before the guy even gets in on Monday. What kind of signal would that give! So what do you get for this group of people? Something that lasts without a lot of TLC, and maybe without water for longer periods of time. Cheery but sober at the same time. I spent way too much of my company’s money on these plants and my biased beliefs. Watch these guys come in and have brought their own dazzling plants to put in their offices!

Another flower allegory I have experienced is men and their relationship to women. Being a Swedish woman in the US was looked upon as being a little more exotic for US men than what a Swedish woman is for Swedish men. It’s delightful being looked upon as exotic. Lots of perks comes with that title: nice dinners, trips to faraway places, undivided attention from busy men with important jobs, men willing to try something new for them which they though I would enjoy (like walking through a museum and read about every single painting, running across the Golden Gate bridge etc.). I’m sure there are more advantages that other women have gotten as well, but this is just a sample from my list. This is all good until you realize that you are exotic and interesting because you’re like cut flowers: expensive, beautiful and the centre of attention for the week they live. But they don’t need any true maintenance. Potted flowers need maintenance. They should be watered regularly and the dirt should probably be changed every two years or so. Sometimes I think men have not understood that the only thing they have to do for their potted plants to be glowing and fabulous is just that: give them water every now and then. If these men have wives (let's hope I haven't been dating married men...), all they had to do is give them a little bit attention. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what I (the other woman) like and get excited about: find out what your spouse would be happy if you did. I went to a sales-convention. In one of the sessions we all introduced ourselves and spoke briefly of what we did. This one guy was in the business together with his wife. Everybody wanted to know how they could stand each other 24-7. He said that once he realized how pleasant it was to have a happy wife, he started to do things that he knew she would like. The gratification of drinking a beer with his pals after work was so much shorter than the extended benefit he got from coming straight home from work for instance. The beer night lasted: the beer night. The happy wife lasted: a life time. Instead, men spend lots of money on what seams like exotic cut flowers. Not realizing that the potted plants could be just as amazing and exotic if you nurture them right.