Wild Rose of Manhattan

tags: , , , , ,

Wild rose, Rosa acicularis.

Photographed while walking to the library along Amsterdam Avenue
on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC.

Image: GrrlScientist, 22 May 2009 [larger view].

After I snapped this picture, an unnamed person approached me and yelled at me for photographing -- flowers! I know this sounds shocking, and I was certainly confused, but apparently no one -- NO ONE -- is allowed any joy, not even one second of joy, not one second, if they haven't paid for it. Not in NYC, anyway.

As one of tens of thousands of throw-away Americans, I feel like a space alien in this country. Like, why the fuck am I here at all?

(Perhaps because what country in the world would want an economic refugee like me?)

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Maybe the yeller was worried that your camera would steal the flower's beauty.....

By Anonymous Pseudonym (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

Maybe the yeller was worried that your camera would steal the flower's beauty.....

By Anonymous Pseudonym (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

Why are you using the f-word? How does it contribute to your post?

By stilldreaming (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

Using fuck further emphasizes his frustration with this situation. Go censor someone else.

By Captain Picard (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

"His"? Shift your eyeballs an inch to the left, and you'll see that our host goes by the 'nym of "Grrlscientist". This is turning into a mighty weird thread, somehow...

heh. i have spent my entire online life being mistaken for a man. not sure if this is a good thing or not ..

D
Your pictures of NYC flowers are simple and beautiful to look at. Thank you.
M S B

By mackerelsaladboy (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

D
Your pictures of NYC flowers are simple and beautiful to look at. Thank you.
M S B

By mackerelsaladboy (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

D
Your pictures of NYC flowers are simple and beautiful to look at. Thank you.
M S B

By mackerelsaladboy (not verified) on 24 May 2009 #permalink

I identify with the "fuck" part of the flower/NY/terrorist attack message...
Is fascinating to be inside the belly of this beast while it is been brought down, with all its might. I could leave and live anywhere else, but I'd be bored to death, deprived of the slow pace empire disintegration into chaos I'm a witness of here.
Long time out of normal academic employment myself, I can see what you are doing and really appreciate your courage for keeping up with the field you love. And you make us all love it....thanks

I thought being yelled at was just a routine part of life in New York City, like being honked at, getting asked weird questions by tourists, and receiving exciting investment opportunities from strangers on the sidewalk.

Maybe your next photo series can include instructional descriptions of the varied and colorful taxonomy of NYC yellers.

By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 25 May 2009 #permalink

A positive aspect of NYC culture, on the other hand, is that, when one is yelled at, it is permissible and sometimes even admirable to yell back.

GrrlScientist's modest blog rant, adapted to an oral format and delivered at high volume, would have constituted a perfectly reasonable response, and would have fallen well within the parameters of ordinary social intercourse, with or without the "fuck"-ing, in NYC. Here in small-town Maine we are expected to be taciturn, or folksily good-humored, or something. Though in compensation we're allowed to be flat broke without social stigma.