Quarantine has made many of us abandon our office spaces for quite some time. And whatever we left there was left there for good, awaiting the day when we return to the office and tend to it. Sure, it was possible to go and pick up some essentials and to wash that mug we neglected to wash the day before, but it did feel a bit apocalyptic in some senses.
Well, office flowers and plants were some of those things that many of us left behind and were hoping that the universe would find a way to make sure they survived without our intervention. This is a story of that hope.
What happens when the lockdown is instated and you left your plant back in the office?
Image credits: wafflesrisa
So, Tumblr user wafflesrisa wrote a post retelling quite a wholesome story of how her plants (and the plants of the entire office block) were saved from meeting a sad fate.
Waffles wrote that the lockdown happened very suddenly and quickly in the UK. She was working at a law firm in an office complex that ended up being emptied overnight and everyone was required to work from home because of the pandemic. And they were not given any chance to come over to clear their desks and to bring their office plants home.
So, 18 weeks (3.5 months) of work from home passed by. “Everyone assumes that their plants are dead,” wrote waffles. But, surprise, surprise, they weren’t. In fact, all of the plants in the entire office building—not just her law firm—were saved.
One Tumblr user shared how this kind security guard took care of their entire office buildings' flora for the 3.5 months of the lockdown
Image credits: wafflesrisa
An e-mail was sent out to people around the office saying that all of the flowers were taken care of throughout the lockdown period. Turns out, one of the guards in the security team is a florist: “and the security team has moved EVERY SINGLE PLANT from all 12 FLOORS of our office building into the cafeteria.”
The guards effectively turned the cafeteria into a temporary greenhouse because it faces east and gets some good sun from that direction. Everything from cacti to succulents to spider plants to terrariums to potted ferns—you name it, it was there. But wait, there’s more.
Each individual plant was labelled by hand using post-it notes with the name and the desk location so that the plants won’t get lost and can go back to their rightful places once the lockdown is over and everyone’s back.
The security guard took all of the plants from all 12 floors of the building and put them in the cafeteria because of the better lighting
Image credits: wafflesrisa
Waffles also included a picture of the jungle that was their cafeteria during the lockdown. “The plants are being taken care of tenderly. They get sun and water and are spending happy times with other plant friends,” elaborated waffles.
Photos of these plants are being uploaded to a private Google Doc so that office workers can check up on their plants regularly. Waffles boasted that her cactus has grown a full inch since last she saw him.
If you zoom into the picture, you can also see a happy security guard, the florist, waving amongst the flora. Hats off to you, sir, for collecting all of these precious plants and tending to their needs. We salute you!
Everyone got an e-mail about it and those who continue to work from home can now also check on their plants on a Google Doc that they share
Image credits: wafflesrisa
The wholesome post soon went viral, aggregating over 41,300 notes on Tumblr.
What are your thoughts on this? Were your plants taken care of during lockdown? Let us know in the comment section below!