In Europe, several countries recently went into lockdown. One of those countries is France. The new lockdown orders started last week and are set to last for the rest of November.
France’s lockdown means that non-essential businesses had to close their doors in order to help the country limit the spread of COVID-19. Restaurants, bars and universities closed their doors. Florists and gyms closed as well. There are many other types of businesses that closed, and with the short notice, there wasn’t time for these businesses to prepare for the lockdown.
One florist found herself stuck with a lot of flowers and no way to sell them. She decided not to get upset but to put the flowers to good use.
Magali Marcenac told Huffpost, “I had to make a decision, and I didn’t want to waste the flowers. Instead of crying, I told myself that we had to make people smile, especially at times like these.”
The 38-year-old florist has been busy making bouquets with the leftover flowers. She decided to give these bouquets away, but she’s not giving them to just anyone. She’s giving them to healthcare workers.
Marcenac made enough bouquets to leave one on every healthcare worker’s car in the parking lot at Perpignan hospital. Her goal was to thank these essential workers and to hopefully make them smile.
In return, the healthcare workers have thanked Marcenac for her kind gesture. She told Huffpost, “They thank me for my support and my approach because at the moment it’s complicated. They need it, we have to support each other at times like these and not get angry.”
Marcenac posted pictures of the bouquets on the essential workers’ cars on Facebook, and her followers have applauded her great idea.
Marcenac still has more unsold flowers, and she plans to make bouquets with them to leave at other nearby hospitals. It seems that she doesn’t plan to stop giving away the beautiful bouquets until she runs out of flowers. Her kindness and positive attitude is definitely a great example of how to respond during difficult circumstances.
How would you react if you left work and found a bouquet waiting for you on your car? Do you think other businesses should take Marcenac’s lead and give away whatever perishable goods they have on hand during the lockdown?