Aloe - Utility
Theo has a burn on his forearm. You notice it when he reaches for a watering can -- a red streak across the inside of his wrist. He catches you looking.
"Soldering iron," he says. "I was fixing a thermostat for the tropical room." He doesn't seem bothered by it. He sets down the watering can and walks to the succulent shelves, pulls down a fat aloe, snaps off the tip of one leaf. Clear gel oozes out. He smears it on the burn without ceremony.
"Come here," he says. Not to help with the burn. To look at the plant.
The succulent wing is bright today, almost harsh. The grow lights hum faintly. Everything on these shelves is designed for survival -- thick leaves, waxy coatings, spines. This is the pragmatic wing of the greenhouse. No poetry, just engineering.
The aloe sits on the bench, its broken leaf already sealing itself, the wound turning from wet green to dry amber at the edge. The remaining leaves fan outward, thick and fleshy, edged with tiny soft teeth. It's not delicate. It's not trying to be beautiful. It's a medicine cabinet shaped like a plant.
"People apologize for liking useful things," Theo says. He's rubbing the gel into his burn absently. "Like there's something lowbrow about a plant that does something besides look good on a shelf. They want the rare variegated monstera. The one that costs three hundred dollars and dies if you breathe on it wrong." He taps the aloe's pot. "Meanwhile this one's been healing burns, soothing skin, and purifying air for four thousand years. Costs nothing. Survives anything."
He holds up his arm. The burn already looks less angry.
"Look at it, though," he says. And you do. The geometry of the leaves. The gradient from deep green at the base to pale at the tips. The way the teeth along the edges catch the light like a tiny crown. "It didn't sacrifice beauty for function. It didn't sacrifice function for beauty. It just did both and didn't think about the distinction."
He puts the aloe back on the shelf, in the front row, where anyone can reach it.
"Aesthetics and function aren't opposites," Theo says. "That's a lie someone told you so you'd stop trying to have both."
Aloe Succulent - Utility
Fior Fiore Plant Shop
$0.99
Aesthetics and function aren't opposites.