Gerbera Daisies

G is for Gerbera daisies. I don't really like them. The main reason, and I am fully aware of how crotchety this makes me sound, is that they're just a little bit too happy. Gerbera daisies are the Beach Boys of flowers- minus the drug problems and Charles Manson associations, naturally.

Gerbera daisies always remind me of this poster I had in my dorm room:

Freshman year, everyone went to the same 2 poster stores in town. Once inside, you were funneled through the aisles swiftly, leaving only a moment to choose what type of person you were going to become via wall decor. The options were slim, as you can imagine they'd be when 40,000 people are forced to identify themselves in 100 or fewer pop culture, art, and photography prints.

1. Girl's Night! Let's all choose what characters we are from Sex and the City as we mix drinks in our cement-wall 10' x10' caves. Your boyfriend broke your heart? Excellent. Let's trash him while affirming that you are a catch and confirming that his new girlfriend, who is rushing Delta Beta Chi Omega Phi, is not:

2. I represent the counter-culture, and everything mainstream is lame as hell. I think this can best be discussed over a bowl of Madison's finest weed and, if we get crazy, I'll bring my bongo drums:

3. At this moment, I'm unsure where I stand because I was raised in an extremely stifling and sheltered environment. I am hoping to not offend anyone who might want to be my friend:

As you can perhaps guess, I was firmly in the #1 camp, with a healthy sprinkling of #3. My walls did have a slight cool factor due to my Garden State poster, which was my most prized possession at the time.

Digress much? Anyway, on Friday as I was leaving work I spotted a vase of daisies in my office that would rot over the weekend. I brought them to my car, and secured them in a cupholder using techniques that would have made McGuyver weep with pride. Then, I had to bring them into 3 different houses that I visited on the way home so they wouldn't spoil in my hot car. The whole time I was thinking, for being so damn cheerful looking, these free flowers are pretty much a huge inconvenience. I much prefer them in poster form.

Then I got home and found they look very cute in my kitchen. So the fact that I had to pull over on the side of the highway to secure them with leftover bungee cords from my move wasn't completely for nothing.

G is for Gerbera daisies, I guess. Mostly it's for Great college flashback.