Valentine's Day Anonymous

Valentine’s Day is a love/hate event for florists. It is the biggest day of the florist’s year and vital for our financial survival. (Love it!) It means  hundreds of people who all need their order delivered on the same day and, given the significance of the occasion, catastrophic consequences if a mistake is made. (Hate it!)The normally sleepy, laid back pace here turns into something like the pit of a mercantile exchange on black Friday, with everybody rushing around shouting with a phone in one hand, orders clutched in the other and roses protruding from everywhere.

Our staff has to expand dramatically as does the length of hours spent at work. Fortunately, we have some fabulous backup designers who have normal careers and take the day off to add some chaos to their lives for a day. I don’t know why they do it, but I’m so grateful to them, (Michelle, Lauren, Emily, Jene, you’re crazy but thank you!) Maybe it’s the joy of saving some poor sap who forgot his wife/girlfriend wanted roses and phones us at 5pm on Valentine’s Day praying for rescue. (We get a one or two every year). Maybe it’s the romantics who do things like order a vase of roses with the middle one of a different color to draw attention to it and then hides an engagement ring inside. (Yes, he really did it!). Maybe it’s the perverse joy of living through a hurricane, or that feeling we all get when we finally close the doors and collapse in our chairs and open a bottle of wine and share the common euphoria of coming through alive.

Like it or not, V-Day is coming. It is relentless, merciless and unforgiving. We bow to its mighty power and pray for the strength to rise to its challenge. So this year, spare a thought for your poor florist who is digging deep into her soul to summon up the stamina to design that next gorgeous vase of flowers, take pity, and order your Valentine’s flowers early!

Posted by Victoria Park Florist Blog at 1/25/2010 4:25 PM
Categories: Stories on ourselves
 

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  • 2/3/2010 5:26 PM pam wrote:
    I don't have email but enjoyed seeing your store and its bird. What is the story behind the bird?
    Reply to this
    1. 2/3/2010 6:16 PM Victoria Park Florist Blog wrote:
      The bird is a Parrotlet which is (I think) the smallest member of the parrot family.  It's my wife's and is her muse and constant companion.  His name is Oliver and he is learning to talk.  Has about 10 phrases in his vocabulary which he recites in a little mechanical voice, mostly when the shop is quiet and he is alone.  He has a cage but it's always open and he eats and sleeps there but most of the day climbs around on a bunch of branches clustered around his cage or riding on Margaret's shoulder watching what she does.  He's very devoted to her and gives her kisses on request.

      Reply to this
  • 2/11/2010 1:05 PM Lauren wrote:
    Amen to that!
    Reply to this
  • 2/24/2010 6:25 PM Lauren wrote:
    Three cheers for survival of the fittest!
    Reply to this
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