Lee's Tuppence! - Why Flowers Lose Their Blossoms

 

Quite a while back my mother and I were out in the front garden (everywhere in my parents' yard was a garden) and we were looking at the lovely red tea roses my mother had planted long before I was even a twinkle in my daddy's eye. I happened to point to the prettiest one and that's when I got my first lesson on the rudeness of pointing fingers.

My mother scolded me, "Don't point! You'll make the bloom fall off!"

Well, I didn't want to do that! It was far too pretty to want to make it fall off so, of course, I stopped pointing at it immediately and, for some strange reason, from then on I was very careful not to point -- even at people.

Of course as I grew up I began to lose sight of some of the things that my parents taught to me and I began pointing that finger again at flowers and other things -- even people! After all, it was just an old wives' tale, right? Pointing wouldn't actually make the bloom of a flower fall off now would it?

Yet, here I am just a bit older, well, maybe more than just a bit and I have discovered a strange and maybe wondrous correlation between people and flowers. Yes, it is true! They both bloom!

You always hear about someone coming into full bloom, blossoming or even sprouting up like a weed. Well, even weeds have flowers.

And I have discovered something else along my merry way -- pointing really does make a bloom fall off because I've seen it happen right before my very eyes while in the midst of a most serious pointing session. I bet you've seen it too. You remember. It was the last time your co-worker came to work wearing that ridiculous pair of shoes or that ugly outfit or the time she dyed her hair that awful color that didn't go with her skin tone at all!

Did you notice how when she first came into the office she was smiling? Then you pointed that finger of condemnation and the smile just fell away.

So stop pointing! You'll make the blooms fall off!

Lee's Tuppence!