#431 When those fake flowers turn out to be real

Neil Pasricha

Can you spot a fake?

While flipping magazines at the dentist office or sitting casually at a restaurant table I’ll mindlessly start staring at the flower bouquet and start wondering if they’re real.

I always think they’re fake at first but then my eyebrows furrow and I stare in deeper looking for clues. What’s that, a torn leaf at the back? Wait a minute, is that dirt outside the vase? My eyes widen as I lean in to rub a leaf or two, touch a petal, or take a big sniff.

Sure, it’s risky going in for that inspection because if you find out it’s fake then you just got duped by a flower factory.

But that’s what makes it so sweet when Detective Petals comes up with a winner. Then you lean back satisfied and stare sweetly at the bouquet as suddenly everything’s coming up roses.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here

42 thoughts to “#431 When those fake flowers turn out to be real”

    1. This brings the total number of authors on this site to 3:

      -Neil Pasricha
      -Matt (the schizophrenic commenter)
      -Paul Pasricha (aka: PaPa)

      At least that’s going to help reduce Neil’s workload a little, as he starts working on Book of Awesome v.2.0

  5. Actually the other way round, I always think it’s so awesome when you thought the flowers were real, when in fact, they were fake! > 0 <

  6. If there’s ever any question about the status of a flower, I must investigate. I’m not above putting my grubby little paws on some flowers to confirm their realness. :) Those clues are classic. Fake flower makers are so tricky, though … they’re on to all the Detective Petals of the world and some have stepped up their game to include fake dirt, fake imperfections, and/or fake water in a vase.

    1. The fake water……… yeah it looks real but there’s certainly no water in there. Those flowers can’t survive in gel. Yep…. they are fake…. or some mutant flower that doesn’t need water anymore…… hmmmmm

      1. The layer of dust on top of the gel is a dead giveaway… Folks, remember to dust your gel!

    2. All of these advanced techniques start to scare me.. I worry for the day when we see a poor hummingbird, trying in vain to suck the nectar out of a perfectly-constructed-but-oh-so-fake bouquet of flowers.

      Fool me once, shame on me.. fool a hummingbird, and I’m going to take a flamethrower to your plastic flowers, melting them into a charred, smoldering mass.

      Uhh.. I’m not as unstable as that post makes me sound, I swear..

      1. Freddo, friend, are you OK?
        Take three deep breaths and one dose of Taylor Lautner’s abs.

        But don’t overdo it, we don’t want you to have another fainting spell.

          1. Right? I mean, can you think of a single problem that Taylor Lautner’s abs can’t solve?

            Global warming? DONE.

            Peace in the middle east? DONE.

            To paraphrase from that SNL skit about cow bells:

            “I’ve got a fever.. and the only perscription is MORE Taylor Lautner’s Abs!”

      2. I like your passion. You gotta fight for your right to have real flowers (for the hummingbirds).

  7. I’m the other way around. I always think the flowers are real and then I go to sniff them and there is no smell and ta da…. they are plastic. It makes me giggle at myself for being tricked by a flower.

    There are a lot of plants that are real that I still think are fake no matter how much I touch and feel them. The ones with the big, thick leaves that kind of shine. Yeah, some of them are fake, but my grandma has one that’s real and I still believe its fake even though it has grown over the years.

  8. Lol I’m gonna try this this weekend. Unfortunately I think the only way you can truly tell is by eating the flower and if you spit it out it’s fake, but I don’t think most restaurants would allow that.

    1. I know this is really weird, but I know someone who use to eat flowers. Mainly roses. There was nothing wrong with them… straight A student, really smart and popular…. they just liked the way roses tasted I guess.

      1. Lol I used to eat grass too before I learned they put pesticides on it so I guess that’s not that strange.

  13. My mother used to have a green thumb, kept plants all over the downstairs rooms. Then she kinda lost it, started killing plants right & left. So, she put alot of fakes around. One day I caught her watering one of the fakes…thought I’d bust laughing! She was perturbed.

  15. My mom works with real and fake flowers every day, sometimes at home, but I’m afraid I still think some real flowers are fake and vise versa. :p

  16. Meh, this is okay, but I’d hardly call it awesome. I definitely would not call it #431 awesome…. maybe in the 800’s somewhere, but definitely not on the better side of 500. Disappointed.

  17. I can tell by looking at the petals or the leaves :) if they’re synthetic-looking, i just know. xD

  22. Flowers play a symbolic part in our daily lives as they have their own significance. The presence of flowers is seen at all events which are related to us like marriages, birthdays and even religious ceremonies. In certain countries, the presence of flowers is considered as very auspicious and is believed that the gods would come down on the earth smelling its fragrance and bless the occasion. Flowers also played a vital role in almost every person’s life and it is a known that the secret to a woman’s heart is through flowers as they definitely fall for the beauty and fragrance of flowers

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