Walking past this hedge of roses I was tempted to take a few as a present for my mother. Probably no one would miss them, but then I thought of what happened to Rosie and it just didn't seem right.
So why couldn't I knock on the owner's door and ask if it would be OK?
Well, they probably wouldn't be home for a start, there was no car in the driveway. There was a light on, but that was probably just a security measure. I might be able to come back tomorrow, but what if they were away on holidays? Supposing even if they were home, they might think I was an insurance salesman and not even answer the door. Even worse, they might not take kindly to strangers knocking at odd hours. My list of excuses seemed to be limitless.
Despite all of these seemingly plausible reasons to the contrary, I went and knocked anyway.
Rob answered the door with a beautiful parrot (Psittaciforme) on his shoulder. When he heard that they would be a present for my mother, he returned with scissors in hand and took me on a tour of his garden. By the time we had finished chatting, he had given me many more roses than I bargained for.
I was glad I hadn't chickened out, and I hoped that somewhere Rosie would be proud of the way I acted. Of course when I got home, mum was pretty happy too.
Thanks Rob.
