Flowers, Facts & Valentines

Looming on the horizon is yet another celebration that I have little love for. Which rather ruins the point of it I guess.
St. Valentines Day is growing ever closer, I really can't be alone in my lack of love for this event can I?
What's to look forward to? Brown envelopes with bills dropping through the letterbox instead of lovely red envelopes with SWALK stamped across their rear? Hmm, I see no fun in brown envelopes at all, they only ever contain bad news.

And I realised it's absolutely ages since I was sent flowers. In fact it was back in the days I worked at British Telecom, answering calls from customers less than cheerfully advising me there was a fault on their line.
I remember chatting one night with Colin, one of the resource managers, when he spotted a gentleman on the CCTV monitor at the front door. The gentleman in question was bearing a huge bouquet of flowers and Colin dashed off to catch him before he gave up ringing the bell.
I sauntered back to my seat, inwardly cursing the lucky receiver of the bouquet. I put my headset on and took a call, yet another cheerless customer unlikely to be thrilled by the weeks of delays BT were suffering with.
Colin finally reappeared with the bouquet in his arms, breathing heavily from the run down the flights of stairs.
All heads turned in his direction as one and all watched to see who would be the lucky recipient. He headed towards my bank of desks, looking me straight in the eye and grinning. I had a customer rambling in my ear and I pointed at my chest in that farcical manner whilst mouthing 'me'? My eyebrows were acquainting themselves with my hairline as I put my customer on hold and took the flowers from Colin.
They were beautiful and I was glad of all the envious stares from around the office as my smile threatened to tear across my cheeks.

That must be ten years ago now with only one bouquet delivery in the meantime. Is it that guys don't send flowers any more? Or is it that they don't send them to me?!

However, as I mentioned Valentines is looming and I'm sure the sale of red roses is about to rocket. I might be strange, (Ha! No might about it!) but a random fact is that I hate red roses, they smack of a lack of imagination, they smack of a last minute gift and whilst I'm sure that's not always true I've never liked them.
I had a date once and the guy in question showed up with a bunch of red roses and I immediately felt that it didn't bode well. I was right, by the way.
They just don't work for me.
Now yellow roses? That's a different kettle of fish. I think they're lovely.
Although, and here's another random fact, daisies and tulips are by far my favourite flowers.
I've always carried a secret (not so secret now) wish that a date would turn up with a tiny posy of freshly picked little white daisies.

But then I still have a stone that was given to me, simply because its finder thought it was beautiful and made him think of me. I'll never forget how ridiculous he said he felt buying a jiffy envelope to send a stone in.

I've been given some truly wonderful gifts in my life and it's the ones that you know the other has given because they know you'll love that count the most I think.
Damn it all, at the end of it, despite my reluctance to like Valentines Day, I'm an old romantic at heart after all.