The Plant Man Cometh

Once upon a time there was a weary worker who trudged upstairs to her workplace to begin the long evening shift.  It was a gloomy day and the world was only going to get worse with the worst client ever assigned to her that shift.  But suddenly a ray of mirth filled the work place from greying keyboards to the molding vaulted ceiling.  An older and wiser colleague had mentioned the existence of the plant man.  "The plant man" she asked with raised eyebrows and a hint of a laugh in her smile?  But the colleague though smiling was not laughing, he was serious.  The plant man was real he assured her and all those who perked up their ears to listen.  You see everyone knows that a good office must have plants in it for atmosphere.  Not everyone understands what sort of commitment this requires.  It is not a duty to be assumed lightly or by the faint hearted.  So our office rents the plants.  Yes, rents the plants.  And to ensure the safety of our plants' well-being there is a plant man.  He comes every so often to dust the plants.  Everyone laughed and went about their work.  But secretly they doubted.  Could there really be such a thing as the plant  man.  Rented plants? The plant man?  It all seemed too silly to be real.  They all went home laughing but doubting.

Potted plants in Poway - Maybe they need a plant man to care for them

Well, I am here to tell you that the weary worker was me.  I was once a doubter of the plant man's existence.  I doubted until one day as I came into work I saw a large duffel bag filled with cleaning supplies on our briefing table.  I looked at it suspiciously noting the various cleaning implements until a rustle of the plants behind me caused me to turn.  Sure enough it belonged to the plant man.  The plant man was a rather short unobtrusive man.  He was quiet, and had a calm to his presence, and he was clad in green.  I cannot say whether this was for camouflaging purposes or simply to be in harmony with his beloved charges.   However, I can tell you that he dusted and then gently spritzed every leaf of every plant in the building before packing up his cleaning supplies into his duffel and exiting quietly.   

He was real.  The plant man was real.  Our office really did rent the plants and the services of the plant man.  Who would have thought?  Before I worked at this job I didn't even know you could rent plants.  But now I know that plant rental is not only a thing, you can also hire the services of your very own plant man. 
Maybe I should hire the services of a plant man.  I never really thought about whether or not I should rent or own my plants.  Maybe I haven't been making sound gardening decisions.  Maybe I should become a devoted plant man.  Maybe that should be my career.  It certainly wouldn't be stressful dusting leaves for a living.  Now that I know that renting plants is a thing I may need to rethink my life.