A Trojan horse for the slow of mind

Saturday morning, I was lounging around the living room, flipping through yet another story in the Express-News about the manure fire - WHICH IS STILL BURNING - when the dog started barking his head off in the front yard. Now, our dog is very sweet, but lacks that killer instinct. Often we won't know that someone's here until they ring our doorbell. So I figured that if Che was alerting us to outsiders, it might be a big deal.

I look outside to see a guy in a hooded sweatshirt smiling at me sheepishly as he put a potted pansy in front of our gate. Since I was in my robe, I waited until he drove off to go investigate.

It was a yellow pansy with no note. There was just one coupon plugged into the soil: a plea to join Capital One.

So what would you do if you were presented with a flower pot that you hadn't asked for nor expected? If you're me, you bring it inside. Eh, I figured that the chances of someone lacing a pansy with ricin or something along those lines were slim to none. I guess there is the possibility that a camera has been placed in its petals and they are conducting consumer research by watching how people actually live. Probably not though.

It's looking pretty good so far. Let's see which lasts longer: my New Year's resolution for fiscal responsibility or the pansy. My bet is on the plant.