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Happy July 5th
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What follows is a short diddley-doo that I wrote a few years ago in honour of the American Independence Day. It’s quite a load of rubbish so enjoy.
Philodendron. Common name, Pothos. Derived from the Latin Vulgate meaning that which grows and spreads like wildfire yet can grow even in dark closets. This “devil’s ivy” has sprung up in every restaurant, every airport, every hospital, everywhere!
The obvious benefits of such a plant is well…obvious! They add a sparkle of green and yellow to the decor; they easily spread to cover a large area, and can be used to accent not only table tops, but also counters, shelves, bookcases, and in ancient times they even put them on either side of the portcullis of a castle.
But what we’re really concerned with today are the health benefits of the Pothos. As with any chlorophyll rich foliage, the Pothos is responsible for contributing to our ability to live and breathe on this planet.
Without the Pothos, oxygen would in fact be considered a rare commodity. So much so, that within years it would be so rare that it could only be found on the black market: bottled, canned, spritzed, and vacuum sealed. There would be different quality offerings of the precious O2. For those on a diet, there might be Diet-O2, but what if you want all the flavour of O2 but not all the gassy aftertaste, maybe they would offer O1.
At some point, they’ll start with the marketing gimmicks to get you to buy more at higher prices. New-O2, CherryO2, Diet CarbonFreeO2, Diet Black Cherry Vanilla O2. It will never end. All of this tragedy of events could happen were it not for the glorious Pothos.
Obviously we can’t do without this precious plant. Unfortunately they are so abundant that their relative value and cost is next to nothing. Any resident of our planet with $5 can go to their neighborhood Target/Wal-Mart/Kmart and pick up a Pothos. But imagine with me once again: if we suddenly had only a finite supply of them left, or if they only grew in one remote sector of the world, they’d become as valuable as diamonds.
You could only buy them at DeBeers Exotic Pothos Emporium, but you would have to get on a wait list and the only way to get on the wait list would be to call a special phone number at a special time and hope to not get a busy signal (sort of like voting on American Idol). Assuming you got through on the phone, and then assuming you got on the wait list you would still have to pass a rigorous Pothos Ownership Operating Process (POOP) Exam. Not only is there a written exam, but an oral exam, home inspection, and a requirement to sign a waiver allowing DeBeers to reclaim the plant in the case of neglect and allowing for periodic home re-evaluations. You’ll notice I have switched to the present perfect tense because this could actually become reality sooner than you think!
There are probably those of you out there who think “I’m safe. I already have several Pothos at my house so I don’t ever have to worry.” Unfortunately, the president, and I think we all know who that is, just passed a law allowing the military to enter any personal property and seize any live Pothos on the premises.
The law is actually so all encompassing that they can seize dead Pothos as well, or force you to search your garbage for any you may have thrown away. So as you can see, no one will be safe from the threat of Pothos extinction.
Well, except for the very very rich. Anyone making over $500,000 a year would be exempt from the new law of course. Heaven forbid we deprive the rich from their double half-caf, half-decaf O2 with a twist of lime. Besides, the middle class should just learn to be happy with the Novadollar’s O2-AuLait right? For those of you who aren’t bilingual, Au Lait means with milk. That’s French. Which means that if you traveled to France and wanted to have some O2 with Milk, you’d have to say “Au Lait” instead of “with milk” otherwise they wouldn’t understand you, because no one in France is bilingual. Be careful about using this term in other countries, such as Mexico or Spain, or they might send a bull charging after you, because Au Lait is surprisingly similar in sound to O’le!
Unfortunately, there are no Pothos in France, so I don’t know why anyone would go there anyway. Except maybe to see La Toure Eiffel, that means Eiffel Tower. But you can see pictures of it anywhere, so again I ask, what’s the point? I’d much rather go somewhere and see something that no one has ever seen or taken a picture of.
Maybe some remote cave in the middle of a vast line of underground caverns that maybe hasn’t even been discovered, and maybe contains a vast cache of Pothos growing wildly and abundantly creating so much O2 that if it ever escaped from the cave would throw off the balance of the entire global O2 market, sending O2 stocks crashing down and ensuring quality breathing air for anyone on our planet, turning billionaires and other rich folks into ordinary middle class within minutes. (reminds me of the Great Chopsticks Incident of 2004)
It could happen…
*This commentary is based on the Award Winning Best Selling Novel by the same author, and in no way supports or defames the holiday of Independence Day, because it has absolutely no content related to aforementioned holiday.