I recently read a news story which truly
disturbed me. It stated that Americans have a
third fewer close friends than just two decades ago. The
article went on to claim that one in four of us have no close friends at all. In essence, we are losing our connection with
others. I find it fascinating that in both
floral design and society connecting lines enhance unity and create harmony. In society, close relationships are our safety net. Be it as simple as babysitting a neighbor’s
sick child, or as imperative as helping to evacuate neighbors from an oncoming hurricane,
we need close friends that we can depend on every day.
One of the reasons that this loss of connection bothers me so much is that I
didn’t see it occurring. True, I have
written often about the fear of isolation for a small business owner, but I never realized
that this is just a piece of a much bigger problem, the isolation of individuals within a
society.
I feel so fortunate to be a part of the floral industry.
While we too may not have as many close connections as we did in 1960,
florists are truly an exception to the trend. Last
spring just one week before Mother’s Day I received a panicked phone call from a
floral designer. The shop owner’s husband
had suffered a serious injury and was in intensive care in very critical condition. To further complicate the situation the lead
designer had broken her leg and the shop had three weddings scheduled for the
Mother’s Day weekend. Those of you who
have worked in a floral shop during a hectic Mother’s Day week know what a disaster
this could have been. But, within minutes of a
few phone calls volunteer floral designers showed up at the shop ready to work. In fact, so many florists offered to volunteer their
time that most had to be turned away. I could
cite hundreds of stories similar to this one and yes, I have been both the rescuer and the
rescued. |
