Entry for April 28, 2007

After feeling bad about yesterday's entry on the blog, I thought I'd do my bit for anti-globalisation by eschewing the supermarket, and doing my shopping from the little shops on the Main Street. So, I packed the Small Bald Person into her pram and set off to see if Britain truly remains a nation of small shopkeepers.
I'm pleased to report that, in my small corner of the West of Scotland at least, the butcher and the baker (if not the candlestick maker) are still alive and hurling catapult shots at the Goliaths of the shopping world. I had a really pleasant afternoon. Here is a list of nice things that happened to me on the Main Street which would not have happened in Morrison's -
A man in the fruit shop gave the Small Bald Person a satsuma. In Morrison's this would either have resulted in my child being given an ASBO or the man ending up on the sexual offender's register. (She ate it all too - even most of the skin - that's my girl!)
A man talked to me in the queue for the papers; he even made a joke. It was quite funny. In the supermarket queue eye contact is to be avoided, unless you fancy a square go in the car park after you collect your Nectar Points.
A shop assistant (the butcher on this occasion) gave me some advice about the joint of meat I was buying. In the supermarket one is normally greeted by an acne ridden trainee who has an HND in Meat Based Technologies.
I did not come home with eight tons of packaging.
It did take longer than the supermarket, and I was not able to indulge myself by buying moist duckling stuffed with Guatamalan kumkwats roasted over a smouldering mix of oak leaves from Morrison's "Oooooh Taste That It's Bloody Gorgeous, What Have You Been Buying Tasteless Muck For All These Years" range. But I did get some nice lamb, a wee walk in the sunshine and coffee out a real coffee cup.