We hope this finds all of you feeling sassy after a long holiday weekend. Reflecting on all the blessings of this season might be easy or hard for you. Wherever you find yourself, we hope there is a bit of gratefulness and a small glimmer of hope for the new year.
We are sliding quickly into 2021 and making plans for spring. Yes, it rolls that fast around here! Our landscape crews are installing beautiful designs. Our lawn maintenance crews have wrapped up final mowings and moved into blowing leaves and keeping things tidy for our clients over the holidays. And the garden center crew is sawing, wrapping and tying Christmas trees on cars like little Christmas elves!
I was at the garden center last week and a customer was looking at the 9-10' trees we have in stock. (The trees we ordered from western North Carolina were simply gorgeous. Unwrapping them was like Christmas morning.) This family spied two particularly beautiful trees. One 9-10' tree happened to have our name on it because ... well, sometimes there is an advantage to writing the check for 300+ trees!
As this couple was pondering their options, I walked over and asked if they needed any help. He pointed to the tree labeled "Sold - Pearce" and said, "We really want that tree. Do you think I could take them?"
Remember, I'm an Enneagram 8. Was that a challenge? Of course.
So I replied, "Well, that happens to be my tree so if you want to square up we can, or I'll rock, paper, scissors for it."
This guy must be an Enneagram 8, too, because he immediately drops his fist in his palm.
"Let's go!"
One, two, three, shoot. He dropped paper and I dropped scissors. He lost. He (happily) took the other tree and was an incredibly good sport about it.
Mind you as this is playing out, Scott, our daughter, Erica, and our Potting Shed employee/friend, Brantley are nearby watching all of this go down. They are literally hiding behind trees looking for ways to escape. They are Enneagram 6's and 9's. Insert my exaggerated eye roll here.
I walk back over, and they are standing there baffled. Scott could not believe I played rock, paper, scissors with a customer and that I didn't give him our tree! Erica and Brantley were mortified. Of course, I was completely confused.
First of all, I won. Fair and square. Second, I replied, "Do you know how many times I have wanted something and I end up not taking it because I want to leave it for our customers??"
This happens all the time. A plant comes in. I love it. I want it. I walk away and tell myself I'll get it later. I feel bad not letting someone else have a chance to enjoy it. I give it a week. I return and it's gone. Then I kick myself the rest of the day, but I know it has a happy home and is hopefully bringing joy to someone's life.
It's what we do. We give our best green to you. Unless, of course, you rock, paper, scissors for it and lose. And again, this is why they don't let me in the garden center very often. #bannedfromthegarden
