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Employees work in solitude
among beauty

Daryl Thomas rubbed his hands together close to the electric heater perched on a makeshift table in a small shed. The day was Wednesday. Looking out the window, he watched cars drive through the intersection of 102nd and Glisan Street. Out of a small side window positioned above a makeshift plywood counter, he saw a woman get out of her car and walk toward the covered stand.

Taking a step down from the shed, he walked to greet her, stepping around pots holding red, pink, yellow, white and orange roses.

The woman examined the goods: roses, mini roses, carnations, gladiolas and daisies. "How much?" she asked, pointing to some flowers. Mr. Thomas explained that a dozen roses cost $10, and the bouquets sitting in buckets on the ground cost $5.

The woman bent down and picked up a bouquet with full red roses and greenery. Mr. Thomas explained that the roses would last two weeks if properly taken care of. She cut him short; she had heard the rose care speech before. He handed her some plant food and after saying good-bye returned to the little shed.

Walking quickly, a young woman entered the tent to look at the flowers. The day was Sunday, and today James was on duty at 102nd and Glisan Street. He greeted the woman. She needed a single rose to sooth a hurting relationship. "I even bought doughnuts for his office meeting," she told James. James wrapped the pinkish rose. Satisfied, the woman headed off.

Mr. Thomas and James are two employees of Metric Flowers. The main flower shop is located on Martin Luther King Boulevard, and stands are sprinkled around Portland. Mr. Thomas, James and others, primarily male employees, rotate working at these little corner stands. They work alone seven days a week, 12 hours a day, with no break for lunch and only a stack of flower pots to sit on.

In the mornings, the employees bring new roses from the main stand. Each stand begins with around 40 bunches of a dozen roses. James said the roses come from Ecuador and are ordered through a supplier in Miami.

Wednesday, Mr. Thomas arrived at the stand around 8:30 a.m. His first task was to haul water in a 5-gallon bucket from behind Winchell's doughnuts. Then he stacked buckets to create a terraced display for the flowers. After he prepared the display, he brought out all the roses from inside the shed and displayed them outside under the tent.

James begins his day earlier than Mr. Thomas. James said he arrived around 7:15 a.m. on Sunday to set up so he could open at 8 a.m.--on time.

Standing at the plywood counter, James plucked off extra leaves and old petals from the new shipments of roses and divided them into dozens. Then he began wrapping the bunches in clear plastic. James' only floral training was a two-week course, but people don't need much training to work at a flower stand he said.

A car pulled up and Mr. Thomas went to greet the customer. He said some customers come every week or bi-weekly to buy flowers. He said he prefers staying at the same flower stand so he gets to know his customers. One of the reasons Mr. Thomas loves his job is because of all the customers he meets each day. "I'd never seen a real gypsy before," he said.

Mr. Thomas, originally from Alabama, has also had Indian, Russian and Ukrainian customers at the stand.

He said sometimes he wishes that he knew more Spanish so he could communicate better with his Spanish-speaking customers. "I've never come in contact with so many different types [of people]," he said.

A second customer pulled up, looked through the flowers and asked which ones were $5.

Mr. Thomas said many people stop in because of the signs set up along the road reading "Dozen roses $5 and up." Some days he doesn't have $5 dozens so he can't put out the signs--that hurts business.

The woman who had been browsing through the $5 roses didn't see any she wanted and left empty handed.

After she left, Mr. Thomas stood under the tent and looked over his roses. He said sometimes he just likes to study them closely. He described the roses using the words "beautiful" and "delicate." Mr. Thomas said, "I'm surrounded by happiness."

James said, "I like them [roses] more every day I'm around them." He said shipments always bring new colors of roses he has never seen before.

Mr. Thomas stepped into the shed and pulled a single rose from a vase sitting on a Styrofoam cooler. "This one is my wife's favorite," he said as he picked up a pale pink rose with magenta edged petals. He plucked off the excess leaves and left one dainty leaf on the long 20-inch stem.

Between helping customers and preparing the roses, Mr. Thomas said sometimes he brings his Play Station. "It's the only time I have a chance to play," he said. Or he reads or listens to the radio. The job can get boring, but Mr. Thomas said he likes the low stress work enviroment.

Passing time in the shed on Sunday, James watched the Superbowl on a palm-sized television--just minus the food and friends.

The phone in the shed rang, and while Mr. Thomas talked, a couple came in, looking closely at all the roses. Mr. Thomas was quick to come out and greet the customers. His customer service paid off--they bought a dozen roses.

As they pulled onto the road, Mr. Thomas watched the other cars go by. He peered through the clear plastic walls that kept the wind and rain out of the flower stand. The tent was an upgrade to keep customers and roses dry. He has only had the tent for three months; the shed is seven years old.

Looking at the sidewalk, Mr. Thomas commented that the artificial roses along the street corner needed replacing. They were looking weather beaten and faded from the sunny days of summer long gone. He joked that they used to be so beautiful people would want to buy them. One time a guy tried to steal some of them. He got halfway across the street when a customer told Mr. Thomas what was going on. "You can't do that," Mr. Thomas had called after him. Mr. Thomas got the flowers back, and they stand along the sidewalk today.

On the other side of the street, a man drove by on an electric scooter. "That guy goes everywhere on that thing," Mr. Thomas said. He watched a young man ride a bicycle on the sidewalk past the stand. Mr. Thomas remarked he didn't think the guy had a bicycle when he first walked by the stand eardlier.

Another car pulled up about 15 minutes later and interrupted Mr. Thomas' observations. Mr. Thomas said around 20 people stop in each weekday, and on the weekends more people come.

James said he notices a rush of people around 3 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. James doesn't like to deal with the different kinds of customers. "It's not easy to talk to 20 people a day," he said. James said some people don't respect him or the business because they are a stand on the corner.

In the winter, when darkness falls early, a hanging halogen bulb lights the tent for a few hours before closing. Eight p.m. is the official closing time. However, that evening Mr. Thomas wanted to head home to his wife and four kids by 7:45 p.m.

Perhaps he would bring her a rose that night.