Shoot, What Happened to My Heart-Shaped Bamboo?

Last Updated on September 16, 2023

While trying to figure out how to make my boyfriend’s Valentine’s Day special, I came across an online flower shop that sells a variety of plants and rose bouquets. I struggled to pick which type of flower to get him because I wanted something that would be memorable, romantic, and unique.

My gift of Heart shaped bamboo

As I scrolled through the long list of options, I stumbled across cute heart-shaped bamboo shoots. I instantly fell in love. With the deep red rocks, a clear vase, and a cute inside-joke for the memo card inside, my order was complete.

I set the bamboo to be delivered on Wednesday. Since Valentine’s Day wasn’t until Sunday, I figured that would give me plenty of time to get it all set up and ready to go so I could hide it and feel prepared for the special weekend ahead.

On Wednesday, I got the tracking notification from UPS that my bamboo had been delivered. “Great!” I thought, “I’ll pick it up after class.” Except, I never got the e-mail notification from Rutgers Mail Services that I had a package ready for pick-up. “Hmm, that’s strange,” I thought, “Perhaps they’re swamped with other deliveries because of Valentine’s Day. I’ll probably get the e-mail tomorrow.” Unfortunately, tomorrow came and I still had no e-mail from Rutgers. I waited and waited and nothing ever came through! “What’s going on?” I wondered.

By Friday morning, I was actually getting very nervous. Did they misplace my package? What happened? Why have I still not received anything? After leaving work, I rushed to the Post Office on my campus. The worker said they didn’t have anything for me and took my item’s tracking number to see if he could find out where it went. I left the post office empty-handed feeling frustrated.

Once I got back to my car, I checked my phone and found an e-mail from a higher-up worker from Rutgers Mail Services. The man said to me, “Rocky, the package you’re referring to has been placed in Locker Bank 1 under a student of the name [insert my boyfriend’s name here].”

“Nooooooo,” I wrote back, “The package is FOR him, not TO him. Pleaseeee help me get that package back. I have to drive home in an hour and I NEED that package for this weekend!”

I ran back to the post office. When I walked in, the worker was already on the phone with the man who had just e-mailed me. They passed the phone to me so I could speak directly with him. Essentially, the bottom line was that the box apparently had his name on it- and not mine- so they couldn’t release the package to me. I’d have to ask him to pick it up from his P.O. Box and tell him in advance not to open it. How lame…

Luckily, my boyfriend texted me his Rutgers ID number so I was able to walk outside and pick up the package from the locker bank myself. I knew he must have received the e-mail letting him know there was a package ready for pickup. Thank goodness he didn’t get to it yet!

Heart-shaped bamboo

I rushed back to my room to set up the bamboo. I assembled everything on my desk and took a photo of it. We were running late to our dance so I got dressed and left everything as it was. I grabbed my camera and left to go pick my boyfriend up. Together, we went to a 1920’s themed dance near New York City. We used my camera to take photos together with some of their props.

When he asked to see the pictures of us, I passed my camera to him completely forgetting that I had just taken photos of his bamboo gift only a few hours earlier. In my peripheral vision, I saw him scroll over a photo of the bamboo. I immediately grabbed the camera out of his hand. He says he didn’t see anything because he wasn’t fully paying attention but I was honestly about to burst out crying just based on the fact that I allowed that to happen. Everything about this “surprise” gift was going wrong. First, he got the e-mail delivery notification and now he straight-up saw a photo of it. “I’m so bad at this!” I thought to myself.

When he finally saw the bamboo in my room, he reacted in the best way possible. It definitely made me feel a heck of a lot better after feeling like all I could do was mess up with one thing after another. The stress was totally worth it.

Our date at Chelsea Market

We spent most of the day in New York City and enjoyed a nice candle-lit dinner together. We had great food from a cute Italian restaurant. I have to say, this was the best Valentine’s Day weekend I possibly could have asked for. <3

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