
Living on a suburban street and peacefully co-existing with all your neighbours is often easier said than done, especially when a dispute breaks out over something which nobody appears to have any ownership over.
This brings us to a bizarre conflict between the residents of a street in Brixton, south London, over flowers that had been planted at the base of trees and whether they should be picked or not.
The resident who initially planted the flowers became irked that they were getting taken by others and posted a polite note to the tree asking for the flowers to be left alone.
This then prompted an IRL Twitter argument to break out on the tree with a series of notes being posted on the tree about gentrification and if anyone actually owned the flowers.
The first note, which was written on lined paper simply said 'please don't pick my flowers. Thank you.' However, a more aggressive follow-up note accused the person of trying to take ownership of the flowers.
In an area massively affected by gentrification, it's sad to see people claiming ownership of even the flowers.
A pink post-it note then seemed to reinforce this statement, reading:
Flowers on the public pavement are owned by all the community, not just the house they happen to fall in front of.
A longer note then appeared underneath all of them and basically outlined how ridiculous this entire argument was. It said:
Are you serious?
This is not about ownership or gentrification, this is about someone trying to make the street a nicer place for everyone by planting flowers and people stealing them and stamping on them.
How can you try and justify that?
A message was then added to the final one, agreeing with the statement.
Totally agree. This was done with love and a spirit of community for heaven's sake!
The bizarre back and fourth was captured in a now-viral tweet by writer and Mashable culture reporter Rachel Thompson, with Twitter branding it as one of the most middle-class arguments they had ever seen.
People on my street are having an almighty row over who owns some flowers. There have been no raised voices, just h… https://t.co/CONNvr3BVt— Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now (@Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now) 1558857764
It all began a few days ago when someone put up a note saying “please don’t pick my flowers” next to a lupin. A few… https://t.co/CZ519YcznE— Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now (@Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now) 1558857768
@RVT9 @JKCorden This is the most British thing I’ve ever seen. Mainly because of the plastic sleeves ☔️— Crystal (@Crystal) 1558881485
@RVT9 @JKCorden Don't worry, at the end of October we're taking back control of our borders.— Steve (Woke Bunny Hugger) Jones 💙 (@Steve (Woke Bunny Hugger) Jones 💙) 1558887056
@RVT9 @Telibarb It’s a bit like a WhatsApp group on a lamp post. The people who say that everyone owns the flowers… https://t.co/rBUOQ7IkXy— philwoodford (@philwoodford) 1558867002
@RVT9 @JKCorden I'm waiting for Season 2...🍿🍿🍿— PencilArtistryByKat (@PencilArtistryByKat) 1558876436
Others shared similar disputes that they had found themselves in the past.
@RVT9 @sophie_gadd Reminds me of a short interchange we once had. Why not just knock on our door for a chat about o… https://t.co/PzNZEh3I8x— oli silverwood-cope (she/her) (@oli silverwood-cope (she/her)) 1558861131
@RVT9 @JKCorden On my street there is always a plastic wallet sign saying not to pick the flowers or fruit. We live… https://t.co/YtnPyJsHQi— Melissa Watson (@Melissa Watson) 1558887237
@RVT9 @JKCorden I planted Tulips around the stop sign in the front of my house, to brighten the neighborhood. The l… https://t.co/M7Xwi7bc9z— JustMe (@JustMe) 1558879293
Anyway, back to the original argument and it appears that the situation had gotten so out-of-hand that the person who first planted the flowers had been forced to take them 'elsewhere'.
Sorry to report that the debacle has ended with the original note-poster digging up the flowers to take them “elsew… https://t.co/lxM5MWoTkM— Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now (@Rachel Thompson - ROUGH out now) 1558857775
HT Daily Mail