Just a little reminder of why this time of year is so crazy: Originally posted this day, two years ago!
Any other time of year, I can buy a rose with the change under my car’s floor mat. Or with money that I might not inconvenience myself with bending my lazy butt over to pick off the sidewalk. This weekend, however? It costs me more than the price of a fancy, organic, shade grown bean latte. For the price of one rose, I could drive a gas guzzler from North Seattle to Tacoma and back. For one. fleeting. red. flower. Tack eleven more onto that and sheesh!
It is shocking. And of course as a floral designer, this time of year, fellas who never get their special people flowers any other time of year whine to me that they are getting ripped off. The crazy thing is… they aren’t. The hike in price runs all the way down the flower industry food chain and while there certainly is a little bit of opportunistic pricing, allow me to explain a little of what goes on around this crazy time of year when everybody wants the same. fleeting. red. flower.
Of course, this will be illustrated in Swedish Fish and Gummy Bears because I have more of them than I do of expensive roses.
(If you read my previous post condemning sugar from my diet as part of my “new healthy me” plan, you will be happy to know that the animal confections shown in this post shall not be ingested. They will be gifted to my special people… since I cannot afford the price of red roses)
The yummy fishes and the yummy bears are roses. The yummy fishes are all the different roses that are not red. The yummy bears are red roses.
Throughout the year, lots of people love to eat all the yummy fish and bears.
And since the fish and bears can only be made under certain sun and climate conditions, happy fish-and-bear-maker-people all over the world make the yummy fish and bears so that we can have them whenever we want, whenever we want. Production of fish and bears and consumption of fish and bears plods along at a happy balance…. but once a year…..
Everyone wants the yummy bears. Just the bears. There are plenty of fishes, but they just won’t do. They want the bears. Even people that don’t like yummy bears want bears. They know they have to have them, that their domestic lives will be improved, that they will receive disapproving looks if they don’t have the bears. These people can be likened to zombies.
Good zombies.
And every zombie who wants a bear, gets one. Zombie just has to pay more. And why?
Because in all the nice places of the world, happy fish-and-bear-maker-people have been planning for the day when all the zombies will want only bears only for a little while. And because it is so big, and so short, and all they want is bears, it takes a lot of planning. Rooms that cover hillsides are stashed with yummy bears. Can you have a yummy bear in January? No. It is for Valentine’s Day only.
Can you maybe use the rooms to store your couch in while you paint your living room? No. Its exclusive purpose is to hold yummy bears for the day the zombies will want them.
Can maybe a yummy fish-and-bear-maker-person take a day off during this time? No. They must care for the yummy bears.
And all the space and light and water and heat, and happy fish-and-bear-maker-people love goes into caring for those bears, and all the money goes to pay for all that space and light and water and heat and love months before Zombie will need them. Just so that on the day Zombie wants them, Valentine’s Day, they will be yummy. But more important, they will be THERE!
Thank you happy fish-and-bear-maker-people, and thank you Zombie.
And, if yummy bears are too expensive. You can still buy yummy fish. But as history shows… you probably won’t.
