Valentine's Day Ponderings

I know I should have posted this last week but sometimes my "bring home a paycheck every week job" gets in the way. I am currently praying that my situation might change over the next several months. We'll see what God has in his plans. Anyway, that current paycheck-producing job is the subject of many funny stories and sparks many story ideas with loads of characters, both customers and employees. It is also the subject of this week's blog.

I wanted to post on Valentine's Day because as the main floral person at my local grocery store I was on the front lines of guys looking for flowers for their sweethearts. Some were early and some last minute but they all had one thing in mind -- a gift for that special someone. And they all were more than willing to tell me their story as I helped them pick the perfect bouquet.

I have to start with the young man that I helped at the checkout one day. This was a couple of months ago but he deserves a mention. He was purchasing a beautiful floral arrangement and, being the nosy person that I am, I said, "I hope there is a special young lady getting those flowers?" He gave me a wide grin and said, "These are for my sister we adopted 10 years ago from China. Today is her gotcha day." I was so blessed by his comments. For those who don't know, a gotcha day is the day you bring your adopted child home. This young lady is blessed to have such a thoughtful brother.

Closer to Valentine's Day I was working at the service desk when an older gentleman asked me to help him with flowers. His wife of 20 years had died a year earlier and he was jumping back into the dating scene. He said he was tired of being lonely. I'm sure she would be more than happy for him to find some female company.

Of course there was the teenager who only had $10 to spend and needed help finding something in his price range and the man who was headed out on a 10 hour drive to meet up with his sweetheart. I helped him get some cut flowers ready for the road trip.

Then there was the guy who said the apples were talking to him. Hmmm...characters abound at our local Giant Eagle. I consider it all fodder for my future writing endeavors.