Arguing for Paradise

If you have lived all your life in a city, like I have, then your need to be able to view and touch plants is something that has probably haunted you for years. At least in my case, the idea of developing my own garden came naturally one day during a discussion with some friends on my roof. As they saw it, my apartment building had a lot of unused space on the roof, which no one from the rest of the tenants had ever thought of using. Creating my own paradise in the premises of my own house evolved from a simple idea to a challenge that I wished to take.

Most people consider the creation of a roof garden as a wonderful idea, but it takes great motivation and patience if you wish to begin constructing a roof garden on your own. For me, things were rather simple. During the owners and tenants next board meeting, I introduced my ideas on paper and with the help of a visual aid computer program I gave them a first pick on how the roof garden of our building would look like. The reaction was not exactly what I expected to receive. Instead of happy faces and words of encouragement or even declarations from volunteers that they would help, people looked at me as if I had just landed from Mars and begun questioning my intentions. The first question I had to answer had to do with the cost of my roof garden idea. The second with the time period it would take for everything to finish, while the third, fourth and so on, addresses issues like noise, extra building costs, paperwork, licenses and watering. One person even mentioned that he has heard of a building collapsing because of the excess plantation weight on its roof, which I have never heard of!

While some of the questions had some validity, others annoyed me since people seemed to raise them deliberately, so as to put me on the spot for proposing something that everyone would enjoy, but only I would receive the credit for initiating. A few minutes after I began answering everyone's questions, I too began questioning my determination and if I was ready to overcome various problems and address all of their concerns for something I only-apparently-thought as a wonderful, necessary idea. But fortunately enough, I did not surrender without a "fight." After researching on every single concern I heard that evening and coming up with a budget and a time plan, I contacted all those who had initially been opposing my idea. Then I paid courteous visits to each of those people's residences and obtained their signatures on a piece of paper that a lawyer friend put together for my sake. Since everyone was now in agreement, my roof garden project began and I kept myself busy for ten consecutive weekends. Some volunteers did show up and by the time we were about to finish, everyone in the building was excited that they would soon have a place to relax and dine with friends just above their heads at a brand new roof garden!

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