May Day: Leave Flowers On The Doorstep, Not Bodies

May first once meant charming rituals, now it invites murder in America

Photo by Sam Mgrdichian on Unsplash

Roaring Rivers

Torrents, Currents, and Ripples by Christyl Rivers, PhD

Celebrating spring did not always mean murder and mayhem

May Day used to say important news: It’s spring! April showers brought May flowers… I’ll sneak to your porch with this charming nosegay. I’ll ring the bell and run away.

But it’s May 2023, and piles of plastic-wrapped and weeping flowers tell a different story. Going up to a stranger’s porch could get you shot, in Missouri. Getting to the wrong neighborhood driveway could get you shot, in New York. Getting into the wrong car could get you shot, in Texas.

Also in friendly “Howdy Pardner Texas,” asking a trigger-happy neighbor to stay quiet for a sleeping baby can get the whole family shot.

And, mayhem and murder can also happen if you are just on the subway in New York City, being a bit homeless and hungry. No flowers up front, just a big pile of them after the choking death — and angry protests afterward.

To everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season…