What is a weed?

Recently, jo(e) wrote in praise of the dandelion. At the same time, I've been out walking a lot, and jo(e)'s writing got me looking at people's yards. My own neighbourhood is decidedly suburban, with carefully trimmed lawns. There's a (retired) man across the street who spends his day polishing his car, mowing his lawn, and carefully killing every dandelion that pops up. Chris thinks that his quest is pointless, considering the fact that his neighbours have dandelions. I felt a little sorry for him. On the other hand, my eyes were really opened when I started wandering further into the city, away from these respectable suburbs. I discovered that, here, bluebells and daisies grow as weeds in unkempt yards. Bluebells and daisies: two flowers that I used to carefully grow in my little garden back home. Flowers that I have loved and idealised. And they're weeds here. It's a good thing that I don't own property in this city, because I don't think I would have the heart to take a lawnmower to that.