A Flower For No Reason

I was in the grocery store yesterday and there were a group of young men who had 5-6 different colored flowers in their hands. I saw them give one to a lady who works at the small bank in the front of the store, and then as I started to head towards the door, one of them came over to me. While he was dressed casually, & he was neat and clean in his appearance, I still was uneasy about him coming towards me.

He held out a flower and said "Hello ma'am, I'm from DECA and I'd like to present you with this flower." I have to be honest here and admit that my first thought was "Ok, what kind of donation are you expecting for giving me this flower?" But after he finished handing me the pretty pink carnation, and I said "Thank you", he turned and re-joined the other young men and they left the store.

Of course my days of watching Law & Order SVU have taught me that nothing can be as innocent as it seems, so I was suspicious. Were they wanting to see if I was alone? Were they going to mug me? Were they waiting to carjack me? Or kidnap me? What exactly was DECA? Was it a Cult? Was it a gang known as the Horticulture Bandits who robbed flower shops for the thrill of it?

Why oh why didn't I carry mace with me, or at least wear my red pointy-toed kick butt boots?

Now keep in mind that this was around 9:00 in the morning. Oh yea, that's right...exactly when most criminals are hard at work. And in the small city I was in, the biggest rival gangs were likely to be the different local 4-H clubs. Still, Elliot Staebler and Olivia Benson have taught me that crime can happen anywhere and at any time. So I'm cautious as I make my way to my car. I even went so far as to peek under it before I got too close to it. Yes, I honestly did do that, and the lady parked next to me actually asked "Oh, do you have a flat tire?"

Ok, so there were no perps around my car, which mean the vehicle was secure (see, I've even picked up on the SVU lingo). I got in and locked my doors.......then got back out, loaded my groceries I had forgotten about in the cart into my car, re-locked my doors and pulled out of my parking spot.

No mugging. No carjacking. No kidnapping. Not even a note under the windshield wipers. Nothing.

It's not that I was disappointed, but that left me wondering who was that young man and why did he give me a flower? He certainly was much younger than me. Was it "Give a flower to the elderly day?" Oh geez, I wasn't THAT much older than him, so that couldn't be it.

I haven't slept well, so I may not look my best. Was it "Give a flower to someone who looks depressed day?" I look tired, but don't think I look depressed.

My hair was pulled up in a claw and I had on a sweatshirt and yoga pants, and no make-up. Oh crap....please tell me it wasn't "Give a flower to someone who looks desperate day". Tell me I didn't look that bad!

When I got home I looked up DECA on the internet. Here's what Wikipedia had to say: "DECA is a business marketing, management, and entrepreneurship organization that strives to educate its members about general marketing, entrepreneurship, and general business strategies and decisions."

Yea, ok, that clears it right up.

Actually, I was now more confused than ever. What in the heck were they doing? And why were business majors handing out flowers....for free? I'm no business or enterpreneur genius, but aren't they all about making money? Doesn't giving something away for free go against all that?

Great, now I'll probably be up several nights in a row trying to figure this out. This is EXACTLY why I don't like the game CLUE, or story problems, or any other mystery type things. I didn't even like the game Mystery Date!