Valentine Cactus

Becky Sigmon was annoyed with Valentine's Day.  She tried to tell herself that she was annoyed with the social games, with the consumerism, with the shallowness of a manufactured holiday.  But she knew that she was actually annoyed that nobody was giving her a valentine.

It was 12:03 and Becky's biochemistry lab had just finished.  She was walking to her car, gracefully avoiding the people carrying massive bouquets of flowers and garish boxes of chocolates.  She amused herself by recalling the names of the chemicals in the flower scents and chocolate, and the pathways in the brain that they activated.

Then she saw a man carrying a cactus.  She looked again.  Yes, it was definitely a small cactus in a clay pot.  There was a red ribbon with a card tied around the pot.

Becky recognized the cactus-carrying man.  They had taken a research statistics class together last year, but she could not remember his name.  He was in his mid twenties, a grad student like Becky.

Becky was intrigued by this.  She thought about following him, but then decided against it.  She needed to eat lunch, and then prepare for her 3:00 microorganisms class.

At 2:48, as Becky was walking to class, she saw the cactus-carrying man sitting on a bench watching the world go by.  He was alone and had no cactus.  He looked pensive but not sad.

At 4:08, as Becky was leaving her class, she noticed a scattering of dirt near one of the trash cans in the lobby of the biology building.  She went over to investigate.

There, in the trash can, buried under a thin layer of random debris, was a cracked clay pot with a broken cactus.  Becky pulled the pot out and looked at the plant.  It was damaged beyond recovery, which was a pity because it would have looked nice on her windowsill.

Then Becky saw that the card was still tied around the pot.  After a moment's hesitation, she opened it and read it.  It said, "This cactus will make a beautiful flower in 40 years.  I hope that we can see that happen together. - Simon"

Becky was moved by several conflicting emotions.  She wished that someone would write her a card like this, and she was angry with any woman who could throw such a thing away.  She pulled the card off the pot, put it in her purse, and dropped the dying plant back in the trash.

Becky began to walk back to her car.  Then she noticed that the cactus-carrying man, Simon, was still sitting on his bench, exactly where he had been for at least an hour, and possibly four hours.

On an impulse, Becky sat down on the bench next to Simon and pulled the card out of her purse. "Did she even read this card?"

Simon looked at the card, then shook his head.  "No, she took one look at the cactus, threw the whole thing in the garbage, and stormed off."

They sat there, silently, for some time.  Then Becky said, "It was a nice plant.  I would have liked it, but it would have been strange, and a little embarrassing, to get it on Valentine's Day."

"Would you have thrown it away so quickly?"

"No.  But I would not have been impressed."

"I was not trying to impress her."

Becky twirled the card in her fingers as she considered this.  "Well then, what were you trying to do?"

Simon simply shrugged.

Becky looked into his face again.  He was still looking calmly at the bushes and trees on the other side of the walkway.  He still had the far-off pensive look in his face.  Becky could see no sadness, no regret, no anger, and no conflict.

"You are not upset about this at all," stated Becky.

Simon turned to look at her.  "You are right."

Becky waited for him to say something else, but he did not.  He simply sat there silently.  But his body language was still open; he was not trying to shut her out in any way.  So she continued.

"How can you not be upset?  You obviously cared a great deal about her.  You thought you could have a future with her.  But then she throws your gift away and breaks up with you.  Do you have any feelings at all?"

Simon considered this.  "Maybe I am still in shock."

Becky shook her head.  "No, you are not.  I can tell."

Simon looked Becky in the eyes and asked, "So what is going on?"

It was a simple and honest question.  Becky could see that Simon wanted to hear what she had to say.  So she thought for a while and said, "You knew that something like this might happen."

Simon thought about this for a few seconds, then said, "You are right."

"Yet you did it anyway."

"You are right."

"You didn't give her any warning that the gift would be strange.  You wanted to surprise her."

"Yes."

"You were not trying to impress her.  You were not really expecting her to be overjoyed about it."

"You're right."

Becky was now convinced that she understood the situation.  "I think you were testing her.  You wanted to see how she would react to something surprising and unconventional.  You wanted to see if she was a shallow person or a thoughtful person.  She failed your test, so now you know that you are better off without her."

Simon nodded slowly.  "Yes, that makes sense."

Then Simon looked into Becky's face, as if seeing her for the first time.  "Did you get anything today?"

"No, I always manage to scare men away."

Simon gently took her hand in his.  "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Not anymore."