It’s Valentine’s Day in Hong Kong, a pinstriped man strolls into AC Florist commenting that the vase his arrangement came in is too small. Amy, the plump, middle-aged manager with tiny glasses, snaps a response without looking up from swiftly stabbing roses into a basket.
“No it’s not. It probably just seems that way because your house is bigger than this store.”
Several colleagues chime in, agreeing with the manager until the man leaves the store in a huff. “It probably is a little small, but do I look like I have time for this right now?”
That day, the man learned a valuable lesson: do not mess with a florist on Valentine’s Day; they mean business. In fact, they might mean only business contrary to the popular notion that florists are just as sentimental as the rest of the world on February 14.
Americans spent $1.8 billion on flowers last Valentine’s Day, which according to the National Retail Federation was part of an 8.5 percent boost in total Valentine’s Day spending since 2011. And given an improved economy this year, sales are likely to be higher still.
Flowers have long been equated with love or emotion. Take 18th century romantic sonneteers like Robert Burns for example who wrote, “My Luve is like a red, red rose.” Since romance is so deeply imbued in the exchange of flowers, many expect the people who handle the flowers, namely florists, to be huge romantics as well.
In the sappy, all-star, 2010 movie “Valentine’s Day,” Jamie Foxx, a reluctant reporter asks Ashton Kutcher, a florist, if he still believes in love. Kutcher replies, “Yes of course.” Foxx then turns to the audience and concludes, “Folks, if he says it, it must be true, because he’s a florist.”
But folks, it’s not true, at least, not in my experience working in a florist shop.
Cries of pain and profanity ring through the store as someone pricks a finger or drops a plant. The music on the radio is no solace to the incessant yelling.
The store plays the same song all day. I secretly vow to voluntarily plug moss in my ears if “All You Need is Love” by The Beatles plays again.
Amy’s voice shoots over the chaotic counter. “How much do you think the Gerberas should cost?” she screams across the store to her colleague. “Aren’t they usually $25?” she replies. “Yeah, but it’s Valentine’s Day, let’s make them $60.”
This relentless focus on business makes the day go by in a flurry. Florists force roses into bundles, crush peonies together, squeeze carnations into baskets, then move onto tulips without even glancing at the previous bouquet. I join the assistants in an assembly line of cutting, plucking, de-thorning, wrapping, sweeping, water spilling, floor mopping, nasty-glare-receiving and more cutting.
I witness marginally burnt (that’s what they call the petals with the blackened edges) lilies being tossed on the ground and full bouquets being left to rot. It might be Valentine’s Day, but the florists are feeling anything but romantic.
You might think this is an isolated case in Hong Kong, but I’m not alone in my realization. “In the short time I’ve been [a florist], things often feel much more comedic than romantic,” said Keira Lennox, a 27-year-old florist and blogger on aprettypennyblog.com from Tampa, Fla. She goes on to cite how she ends up with dagger-like thorns lodged into her fingertips and slips on petals on the floor daily.
But surely not every florist is out to get you, and many take pride in this fragrant occupation. Lennox ends her blog post with: “When someone comes into your shop and says, ‘I just had to stop in and see some fresh flowers to brighten my crumby day,’ I remember that my job is pretty romantic after all.”
Though my Valentine’s Day in 2010 ended with my fingers wrinkly and torn and my soles worn down to the bone, it made me smile to think at least everyone else was happy to see flowers today. Just don’t expect florists to share the same sentiments.
Sources:
- National Retail Federation 2012 Survey: “Americans to Pull Out All Stops This Valentine’s Day”
- Robert Burns 1794 poem “A Red, Red Rose”
- 2010 Movie “Valentine’s Day”
- Keira Lennox, 27, florist and blogger, Tampa, Florida: keira.lennox@yahoo.com