The other intern I work with told me today that Valentines Day without a boyfriend sucks. Well, Nina, I don't have a boyfriend and I had a wonderful day. I'll admit, that I'm normally the kind of guy who goes way over the top with things like Valentines when I have a girlfriend, so I've gotten used to the idea of the 14th being a day of surprises and giving. That being such, I woke up this morning in a good mood and decided to do something unexpected and nice.
I put on my rose red pants, my jacket and a scarlet scarf (again enjoying the duality of a scarf as a neck hole plug and outfit complement) and strolled out the door. There's a flower shop just around the corner from my apartment so I popped in and bought a handful of the cheapest roses they had. Normally in a story such as this you'd expect someone to buy the most expensive roses in the store, thereby making the story even more impressive. However, after working jobs with hourly wages that in most countries (including Germany) would be considered becoming on an indentured servant, I don't have the kind of cash laying around to shell out 50 euros on a drop of the hat decision. Either way, I walked out of the flower shop with six or seven roses surprisingly pretty for their asking price and made my way on a zig-zag line through downtown Würzburg. I tried to pick my targets carefully, namely those people who if you asked how they liked Valentines day, they'd tell you that without a boyfriend it sucks. So the rose dressed, rose bearing, smiling Californian boy meandered through the city handing out roses to those people with frowns (my hairdresser), screaming children (the woman pushing the stroller in front of the hair dresser), or in one instance, an ancient woman on crutches in a doctor's office. In this last case, my gift kind of lost all its spontaneity and flair because I had to repeat several times why exactly it was that I was giving her a rose.
Me: "Here's just a little something for a good start to Valentine's Day!" (smiling)
Frau Schmidt, born 1876: "What's this for?" (confused smile)
Me: "It's a rose just because. Happy Valentines Day!" (still smiling)
Frau Schmidt: "What was that?" (confused)
Me: "I just...Happy Valentines Day. It's a rose for you...?" (now speaking much louder and equally as confused)
Frau Schmidt: "Is this a rose?"
Me (thinking): 'Look, I know that it's a cheap flower, but it still at least resembles a rose. And I know that you know it's Valentines Day because I can almost guarantee that this doctors appointment has been circled on your calendar for the past five months and you check you calendar every couple hours for any changes that might have happened while you weren't looking. That being the case, I'm sure you're clever enough to figure out that when someone you don't know gives you a rose on Valentines Day and has a bunch of other roses in his hand, he's just trying to do something nice.'
Me (saying): "Yes."
Other than the slightly awkward experience with Grandmother Time, handing out the roses was a great little experience. One of the things that I've realized time and time again while being abroad is that there are endless opportunities to be spontaneous, interact with the people around you (even though they may be complete strangers) and perhaps even get them to crack a smile. For example, all cashiers in the grocery store wear name tags, but how often are they addressed by name? So I've taken to striking up little conversations with them will they scan my groceries and most of them, although slightly taken aback because conversing with the cashier isn't too often seen in Germany, enjoy the small talk. I've also started asking all the nurses I work with how they met their boyfriends/husbands just to hear their stories. Taking the initiative to approach people offers the "risk taker" immediate rewards. I'm looking forward to more social experiments to come. Until then, Happy Valentines Day and with or without boyfriend, I hope it doesn't suck.
