As a kid, I have a faint memory of the educational magazine for children, Highlights. There were always photos where you looked for stuff hidden in plain sight. I think this was the magazine of choice at Physician and Dental offices. A modern version could easily be "find the floss pick". Your investigation into the tree is a tribute to your persistence. To build on the theme, since we get a formal over the top table at Thanksgiving, why not add a floss pick as the final utensil everyone gets at the table perhaps next to the bread plate. Then, late in the evening after cleanup you can look to see if people feel empowered to leave their spent picks in random places around the house. Looking forward to your interview with the tree-keeper. He is definitely going anti-establishment since he frequents a small independent coffee shop next to Dunkin Donuts. Stick it to the man! Enjoy your holidays.
love the floss pick pictures - i've noticed some occasionally but i'm sure ill see them everywhere now!
please ask mystery tree benefactor if they've added all the items or if other ppl do as well! and what got them started! (obvious q's but i'm curious!)
Great issue as always, Anne...especially the odd missive about wayward floss picks. I've never quite had an article both fill me with intrigue AND make me dry heave! The whole affair is unfathomably gross in my mind, but I do love Kaitlin's TOTALLY different point of view :)
As a serious flosser, I prefer *GUM* brand soft picks. Smaller than floss picks they allow virtually undetectable flossing: at dinner, in church or the principals office. Allows you to remove food from inconveniently placed recesses.
The Floss Pic Bridal Photo! The War on Rats! All of it! 🤣 Thank you for a dose of home, Anne. Also: I love following the feud between the Mayors of my two cities. Adams vs Lightfoot! Epic! Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the shout out!
The Mystery Tree investigation was (already!) such a delight to read, I can't wait to find out more about Jimmy's sweet caretakers. I would like to know: have they had fun encounters with neighbours and passersby thanks to Mr. Tree? I'm also interested in whether they think that people have an imperative to actively take care of the public space - in contrast to leaving all responsibility to the city government.
To give a bit of context for my last question: here in Antwerp, Belgium, only formal initatives to adopt trees are allowed since the city government assumes that freedom to use the public space leads to degradation. In my opinion, that is because people are made to feel that they have no actual agency about it. The bureaucratic process is too complicated for many people who would love to have a bit of green space to take care of. I feel like more anarchistic initiatives like the Mystery Tree would quickly be taken down - but maybe I should take it to the test 😁
1st Runner-up: “Your experience may vary. Maybe watch while doing the dishes?”
2nd Runner-up: “I just come in the store and that’s it,” she said. “I don’t hang around.”
Miss Congeniality: “For far too long, the population of rodents has been able to roam around this city with a level of impunity, and we’re saying no to that!” That would be like removing the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge (“The Worst That Can Happen” was the best song by The Brooklyn Bridge, agree?), and removing all the old men sending cold soup back every day in deli’s across the city!
Best tip: “The best use for Worcestershire sauce is on cheese on toast—splash it on just before you melt it under the grill.” I LOVE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE. Thank Gawd for spellcheck!
“I think my most favorite one was the wedding.” THAT PHOTO IS AMAZING!! A floss-pick in the foreground makes that shot Pulitzer-worthy!
Opinion: Of course, people are using floss-picks in the street. Having something stuck in your teeth is akin to getting ‘caught-short” and having to pee, when there is no restroom available. I don’t disagree that such behavior is ugly, but it is necessary.
happy thanksgiving anne! i hope you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the time off.
i loved mr. ogorodnikov's comments about the tree, and his rooting pun. so excited to hear more about "jimmy" next time!
i was listening to npr the other day and apparently in cambridge, MA (the city i lived in before i moved to where i'm at now) there is a huge rat infestation. i heard two terms i won't soon forget - "rat liaison" and "rat birth control." i'm glad i'm not there to see this big uptick in rats but...where i live now we have coyotes, so, it's always something!
re: dental piks - i just bought a new bag of these the other day. i have a gap between two of my very back teeth left from an orthodontic bracket and the piks are just a necessary evil for me. i asked for a waterpik this year for xmas so if santa brings me one perhaps i can cut down on my pik usage, but i will still need some for travel. i always throw mine in the garbage, but that sort of thing still can end up in the ocean unfortunately. i suspect they can end up on the street in similar fashion. i follow this woman on IG, caroline_south, who for years would post actually very beautiful rainbow collages of plastic she would find and take home from the beach. her account has shifted a bit these days, but if you scroll you can still see her collage work, or in her etsy shop. i remember she always found lots of piks.
I keep a bag of floss picks in my car. My commute used to be prime-time flossing (but never tossing them on the street!), but I work from home now. I keep reminding myself to put some in a jar on my desk to remind myself to floss.
I’m so glad Adams has his priorities straight. Rats are obviously among the biggest issues deserving of his attention 🙈 I feel like there’s got to be a connection between the abundance of rats and tooth picks on our streets. Like, are the rats digging them out of our trash?! Haha
I was in the ladies room of a wonderful restaurant* in Ponce Puerto Rico many years ago and a fellow guest was flossing with a floss pick. She volunteered that she had recently gotten a divorce and had invested some of the settlement in corrective dentistry. "I'm protecting my investment!" She added. I didn't stick around to see what she did with the pick.
Please do not refer to regular readers. Your readers are, by definition, irregular.
As a kid, I have a faint memory of the educational magazine for children, Highlights. There were always photos where you looked for stuff hidden in plain sight. I think this was the magazine of choice at Physician and Dental offices. A modern version could easily be "find the floss pick". Your investigation into the tree is a tribute to your persistence. To build on the theme, since we get a formal over the top table at Thanksgiving, why not add a floss pick as the final utensil everyone gets at the table perhaps next to the bread plate. Then, late in the evening after cleanup you can look to see if people feel empowered to leave their spent picks in random places around the house. Looking forward to your interview with the tree-keeper. He is definitely going anti-establishment since he frequents a small independent coffee shop next to Dunkin Donuts. Stick it to the man! Enjoy your holidays.
love the floss pick pictures - i've noticed some occasionally but i'm sure ill see them everywhere now!
please ask mystery tree benefactor if they've added all the items or if other ppl do as well! and what got them started! (obvious q's but i'm curious!)
Great issue as always, Anne...especially the odd missive about wayward floss picks. I've never quite had an article both fill me with intrigue AND make me dry heave! The whole affair is unfathomably gross in my mind, but I do love Kaitlin's TOTALLY different point of view :)
The Eric Adams quotes that you showcase are truly hilarious. Thanks!
As a serious flosser, I prefer *GUM* brand soft picks. Smaller than floss picks they allow virtually undetectable flossing: at dinner, in church or the principals office. Allows you to remove food from inconveniently placed recesses.
The Floss Pic Bridal Photo! The War on Rats! All of it! 🤣 Thank you for a dose of home, Anne. Also: I love following the feud between the Mayors of my two cities. Adams vs Lightfoot! Epic! Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for the shout out!
The Mystery Tree investigation was (already!) such a delight to read, I can't wait to find out more about Jimmy's sweet caretakers. I would like to know: have they had fun encounters with neighbours and passersby thanks to Mr. Tree? I'm also interested in whether they think that people have an imperative to actively take care of the public space - in contrast to leaving all responsibility to the city government.
To give a bit of context for my last question: here in Antwerp, Belgium, only formal initatives to adopt trees are allowed since the city government assumes that freedom to use the public space leads to degradation. In my opinion, that is because people are made to feel that they have no actual agency about it. The bureaucratic process is too complicated for many people who would love to have a bit of green space to take care of. I feel like more anarchistic initiatives like the Mystery Tree would quickly be taken down - but maybe I should take it to the test 😁
Fun, fun, fun!!
Best line: “For a dog. Dead!”
1st Runner-up: “Your experience may vary. Maybe watch while doing the dishes?”
2nd Runner-up: “I just come in the store and that’s it,” she said. “I don’t hang around.”
Miss Congeniality: “For far too long, the population of rodents has been able to roam around this city with a level of impunity, and we’re saying no to that!” That would be like removing the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge (“The Worst That Can Happen” was the best song by The Brooklyn Bridge, agree?), and removing all the old men sending cold soup back every day in deli’s across the city!
Best tip: “The best use for Worcestershire sauce is on cheese on toast—splash it on just before you melt it under the grill.” I LOVE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE. Thank Gawd for spellcheck!
“I think my most favorite one was the wedding.” THAT PHOTO IS AMAZING!! A floss-pick in the foreground makes that shot Pulitzer-worthy!
Opinion: Of course, people are using floss-picks in the street. Having something stuck in your teeth is akin to getting ‘caught-short” and having to pee, when there is no restroom available. I don’t disagree that such behavior is ugly, but it is necessary.
Your advertising was not false. Super fun!
happy thanksgiving anne! i hope you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy the time off.
i loved mr. ogorodnikov's comments about the tree, and his rooting pun. so excited to hear more about "jimmy" next time!
i was listening to npr the other day and apparently in cambridge, MA (the city i lived in before i moved to where i'm at now) there is a huge rat infestation. i heard two terms i won't soon forget - "rat liaison" and "rat birth control." i'm glad i'm not there to see this big uptick in rats but...where i live now we have coyotes, so, it's always something!
re: dental piks - i just bought a new bag of these the other day. i have a gap between two of my very back teeth left from an orthodontic bracket and the piks are just a necessary evil for me. i asked for a waterpik this year for xmas so if santa brings me one perhaps i can cut down on my pik usage, but i will still need some for travel. i always throw mine in the garbage, but that sort of thing still can end up in the ocean unfortunately. i suspect they can end up on the street in similar fashion. i follow this woman on IG, caroline_south, who for years would post actually very beautiful rainbow collages of plastic she would find and take home from the beach. her account has shifted a bit these days, but if you scroll you can still see her collage work, or in her etsy shop. i remember she always found lots of piks.
I keep a bag of floss picks in my car. My commute used to be prime-time flossing (but never tossing them on the street!), but I work from home now. I keep reminding myself to put some in a jar on my desk to remind myself to floss.
I’m so glad Adams has his priorities straight. Rats are obviously among the biggest issues deserving of his attention 🙈 I feel like there’s got to be a connection between the abundance of rats and tooth picks on our streets. Like, are the rats digging them out of our trash?! Haha
I was in the ladies room of a wonderful restaurant* in Ponce Puerto Rico many years ago and a fellow guest was flossing with a floss pick. She volunteered that she had recently gotten a divorce and had invested some of the settlement in corrective dentistry. "I'm protecting my investment!" She added. I didn't stick around to see what she did with the pick.
*Rincon Argentina
Dental pics!!!!! I’m always seeing those everywhere and every time I mention it people think I’m crazy. I feel so seen and heard 🙌🙌🙌
Michael Mohr
‘Sincere American Writing’
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
Love both stories. Looking forward to hearing more about the tree! Have a great holiday!