Weeds

           There are planters in front of some of the buildings I walk past on my way to work. This morning I notice that a number of the plants have been yanked out and thrown on the sidewalk. This happens a lot these days, but they're hardy plants, mostly little clumps of grass and  ornamental cabbagey things, and usually if you stick them back in the dirt they'll take root again. We have planters outside the museum as well, and they too have been getting damaged on a regular basis. Just the other night a couple of dudes (it's always dudes) started attacking the conical shrubs on the south side of the building. They really pummeled the hell out of those shrubs, hurling themselves into the branches while doing what looked like kung fu moves. They finally staggered off -one them fell down in the gravel and had trouble standing up again- leaving the shrubs broken and battered. The footage was pretty entertaining. To be honest, a lot of this half-assed landscaping is pretty unattractive, a relatively cheap way of trying to cover up the ugliness of our urban surroundings. Of course, one could argue, why plant anything nicer, if it's inevitably going to become the victim of meth heads and drunken masters? 

          I don't know what has caused the recent uptick in violence towards vegetation. Maybe it's enough that people are stressed to the point of breaking, especially those living on the streets, many of whom were already struggling with drugs and mental illness before the pandemic. In any case, plants make soft, submissive targets to vent one's frustrations upon. And we just keep replanting, and dudes keep tearing them up, and we keep replanting.