I used to buy a lot of roses for women at Anna Bannana's. The range of reactions was interesting. I would always have the rose girl (sorry: female floral distributor) take the rose over to the recipient, often on the other side of the room. Then she'd point me out to the woman and I'd raise my glass in a toast for a moment.
Sometimes I could see, without needing to hear, that the recipient was saying "I don't want a rose. I don't know that guy and I don't want him to give me a rose." And then the flower girl, not wanting to have to refund my money, would say something like ``Just take the fucking rose. You don't have to go over and thank him or talk to him. You can throw it away later if you want. It's been a bad night for me, I need the sale.''
Sometimes a woman would shrug, put the rose aside, and give me only a cursory glance, just to make sure I wasn't someone she knew. The rose meant nothing to her.
A lot of women would accept it and smile and wave at me. Some would come over and thank me and then go back to where they'd been after five minutes or so. A few would come over and spend quite a bit of time with me and let me buy them a drink. One almost ran across the room, started talking to me, made a date and gave me her phone number. (I went out with her on one date and discovered that she was very young and very pretty and very crazy. I think she had chemical help with the latter.)
And every once in a while I'd watch the woman being given the rose and her face would light up with enormous surprise and delight. And she'd come over and say "You gave me a rose? That's wonderful! I love roses! Nobody ever gave me a rose before!"
When I'd see the rose lady come in the room, I'd look around and see if there was anyone I'd want to give a rose to. I'd never choose a very attractive woman who was the center of attention. If a woman was sitting with a guy, I'd have to look at them carefully to try and figure whether he'd be offended or not. But most of all, I tried to look for a woman who looked like she needed a rose.
Sometimes when I couldn't find a candidate in the room I'd give my $5 to the rose girl and say ``This one is for you.''
I don't know quite what happened, but somehow the crowd at Anna's changed. Either that or I changed. I still look around the room when the rose girl comes in, but I very seldom find anyone I want to give a rose to any more.
January, 1995