undeserved impression of a romantic
For the bus driver and all the other women that smiled at me indulgently as I took the large bunch of flowers home this evening: I’m sorry, but they weren’t actually my idea.
And worse, they weren’t even for Becky. (It’s the AGM of the Play Centre, and Becky needed them to give to a valued member of the team who is leaving.)
I’ve never been very good at that sort of thing. The training, such as it is for New Zealand blokes, never took with me.
But sometimes I did manage to get it right. Unfortunately, that was all a long time ago. The last time I spontaneously bought flowers for Becky was, I think, the 1st of September 1995.
It was the first day of spring, sometime before we were married. Or maybe the first day of spring after we were married… no, wait, it can’t have been then, because first we were living in London and then in later years I was at University again and we had no money.
1995 it was. Shocking.
So yes, ten whole years. Which is pretty bad, on the face of it. Note to self:
I. Must. Do. Better.
Brian
13 October 2005, 09:01 #
I seem to end up buying my spouse flowers when I have that sinking feeling that I’m well and truely in the brown smelly stuff (for whatever reason) – so I’d better do something to retrieve the sitation smartish…
Having said that I last gave Nicky flowers 3 days ago – for our 7th wedding anniversary. I visited the grower that supplied the flowers for our wedding and bought a dozen roses of the same colour that we had at our wedding. It’s kind of become a tradition.
noizy
13 October 2005, 09:52 #
every time I buy flowers for my wife, she looks at them and says something like…
“oh. Geraniums.”
...as if I’d dropped a dead rat or something at her feet like a well-meaning cat.
Mike
13 October 2005, 11:45 #
Mate – thanks so much for the wake-up call. Flowers to Liz are on their way!
Alan
13 October 2005, 12:29 #
Brian: sounds like you are already 90% ahead of most blokes.
Noizy: you need to find some orchids, the real flower of lurrve.
Mike: good move. I can imagine Liz really needs those flowers about now. Then maybe you can avoid some of the mandatory foot massages required after week 30.
I can’t bring flowers to Becky for a couple weeks, because it won’t look very spontaneous. At least that’s my current excuse.
Caro
13 October 2005, 13:33 #
awww how sweet :) I get flowers on special occasions which is lovely – if I got flowers all the time, I’d be either a) sick of them or b) disappointed if I didn’t get some for a while :)
spontaneous flowers are good though, and a way to ensure the “sack” is “gotten into” :)
Dave5
13 October 2005, 15:56 #
I am a huge fan of the ‘spontaneous flowers’ approach. If you don’t think you can be spontaneous…. might I suggest sitting down with Outlook and randomly plonking down reminders for the next 12 – 18 months. 3 to 5 should do it.
Alan
13 October 2005, 21:09 #
Caro! I’m shocked! As if blokes would ever obtain flowers for such a base purpose!
Dave: that’s a great idea. I never took you for the romantic type either, you dark horse you.
Mike
13 October 2005, 21:31 #
Bugger the foot massages!
More into the neck and back stuff.
And I didn’t get the flowers as I forget that we were having lunch together (Riversdales do Cashell Street) and 15 seconds after posting Liz called me to say she was in reception.
Tomorrow though :-)
Karl
13 October 2005, 21:34 #
I was sitting in the bus, watching you walk down Lambton Quay with the flowers, thinking to myself “now that Alan, he’s a top bloke. I should be like him and get my wife some flowers”.
Buying flowers because you’re in the pooh is the wrong way to go – only ever get ‘spontaneous’ flowers – it means more when it’s for “no reason”!
Alan
13 October 2005, 22:03 #
Mike: I’m hearing you on the foot massages. Let us know how the flowers go. :-)
Karl: I like that – something that’s better because it has no reason to it.
Go easy on the top bloke thing though – we still haven’t been to visit young Marcus yet. Just as well we never bought clothes when he was born…
Karl
14 October 2005, 20:11 #
Alan – we’re around all labour weekend. Just planning on some gardening and maybe going to Maranui for a coffee. We’d invite ourselves to your place but you still haven’t been to ours yet…