Flowers in the Office

Flowers in my office. May 2012.

Men perpetuate the notion that women love to get flowers delivered to their workplaces. They tell each other that females prefer flowers sent to the office over flowers hand-delivered by the man at home or, say, on a dinner date.

Why’s that, you ask?

The idea goes that women get greater pleasure out of workplace-delivered bouquets because they enjoy having other women in their offices see flowers arriving on their desks.

What the heck?

I see numerous issues with this notion:

• First: I don’t take pleasure in making others jealous. (Also, I don’t believe that my getting flowers in the office makes a female coworker jealous).

• Second: Most women stopped gloating about having a boyfriend after junior high. My single or paired status has no bearing on my self concept.

• Third: I prefer that people in my office think nothing whatsoever—positive or negative—about my relationships. Let’s work, people.

Whenever I receive flowers at the office, people feel obligated to exclaim and inquire—which feels awkward and uncomfortable. I don’t want to talk about “the guy.” I don’t want to discuss our relationship. I really just want to focus on doing great work.

Also, getting flowers in the office makes me feel like a “girl” in a setting where I’d rather others view me as a businessperson.

I’m sure some women love getting bouquets desk-side. I just don’t believe men should de facto assume that all women do. I’d far rather have a man deliver flowers to me in person—and they don’t even have to be the fancy florist kind.

What’s your take?