Bomb's away...

Bomb's Away! 11.14.06

I'm ordinarily not one to sit down and watch "Sex and the City," but when nothing's on, a passel of attractive, witty women is better than a sharp stick in the eye. Tonight the lovelorn Carrie, seeking to reignite the cooled passions of Aidan, was invited to the opening of a bar that he and Steve opened on Bleeker Street. Excited by the prospect of seeing him, but uncomfortable, she elected to forego the party and instead drop in earlier in the day.

Potted plant in hand, Carrie arrives at the bar only to learn that Steve, not Aidan, invited her to the party so that HIS special ex-interest and Carrie's good friend Miranda, wouldn't be uncomfortable. Are you with me here? Did you catch the plant reference?

Anyway, mortified that she had misread the situation, Carrie deposits the plant, sans card, and races out of the bar. Later, realizing that Aidan will have no idea who left the plant, and explaining it to the girls, she says, "I plant-bombed him!"

I'm always trying to have fun with plants so the concept of "plant-bombing," or leaving a potted plant with no evidence of who it's from, is strangely appealing. Relationship motivation isn't even necessary--although it makes the game more interesting.

Imagine taking a begonia to your favorite restaurant and covertly depositing it on the table before you leave (don't do it in lieu of the tip). Drop a Spathiphyllum at that dark corner bar and, if the flowers look vaguely funereal, snip them off before you go. Invited to a cocktail party a tony, minimalist, upper-east side apartment? Smuggle in the most garish coleus, in a clashing pot, and slide it onto a coffee table behind your back when no one is looking...just don't forget a small hostess gift.

Of course none of this works if you're too widely known as "the plant guy/gal." Being pegged as the culprit ruins the fun and may cost you future invitations--public place plant bombing is much safer.

AND on the relationship scene, eventual identity is important. Dropping a flowering oxalis on the table for that sweet Irish waitress at the pub isn't going to score you any points unless she knows (or learns) that it was you who left it.

Later, of course, Carrie went to the party and, after lots of mixed messages, starts-and-stops, and relationship angst, the couple decides to give it a go again. I'm betting the plant had something to do with it.

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