“Quibbling about semantics” is where you’re just arguing about what the words mean, instead of arguing about the concepts that the words stand for. The “Sarcasm and irony” Pit thread was a perfect example. It just went on and on, arguing about what the difference was between “sarcasm” and “irony”, with plenty of people using lots and lots of both, even while you were asking them NOT to, which made the whole thread at the same time hysterically funny, and totally pitiful.
What irritates me about the cut-flower industry is, first, that the product itself (the flowers) are so short-lived. I mean, what’s the longest period of time you can get a vase of florist roses to stay alive, maybe a week? Then you just throw them out! And there’s your $30, in the garbage, and in little dried-up brown things all over the floor! At least, if you spend $30 on food or beer, you’re getting value for your money. The closest parallel I can think of is cigarettes, but even smoking gives you something for your money. Cut flowers, I’m sorry but I just don’t get it.
Then, think of the incredible proportion of Society’s resources around the world that go into supporting this industry. People grow flowers just for this, they grow carnations and baby’s breath and long-stemmed roses in greenhouses, instead of focusing their attention on something like agricultural diversity, on learning how to make the most out of the land they’ve got, rather than using it to grow gladiolus for Mother’s Day floral arrangements.
Then, the final thing that bugs me is that the flowers are transported all over the world by planes, trains, trucks, and automobiles, all of which USE FOSSIL FUELS, just so people can have little dried-up brown things all over the floor, and a tacky-looking plastic flower vase that you throw away, or give to the Salvation Army.
I resent the fact that this huge industry crams all this down our throats with advertising so that if you DON’T send flowers for Mother’s Day, you’re made to feel like a complete dolt at best, or at worst, a total cad. “I know you were busy, you must have forgotten…” :mad: