Monday 23 October 2006

To post or not? yeah, go on.

I haven't really anything to write about. I seem to write more over the weekend, unlike many people who take the weekend off. And, although quite a lot has happened today, not much of it is bloggable.

I will have more precious sweet time from now on. Al says that Dilly is quite able to manage the children, most of the time, so he will go back to work. I was in the shop this afternoon as she blithely accepted an invitation to visit a friend in Norwich before remembering that she can't drive yet. And, even if she finds driving all right (she was told to avoid it for six weeks and is now a little over halfway there, but six weeks? Just what can one keep up for six weeks? Jeez) she still has two children to lift and strap into their car seats. So Al went with her.

Precious sweet time, I said. But it's still redundancy. Woe.

Well, not that much woe. I can do the housework tomorrow! Yay!! (Ooh, one more ! and I'll emulate JonnyB).

The shop was very busy today. Lots of happy children choosing pumpkins to carve for Hallowe'en. Children are just so endearing. Sure, they can be a pain, but there aren't many I don't like - they are, usually, so straightforward and responsive. There aren't many of them, unless, perhaps, those with particular handicaps or illnesses, who do not respond to the way they are treated. There was one little girl with both her parents. She made a great fuss of her father, maybe he works hard and is not often there during the day. The mother smiled, enjoying the happiness. Another girl was with Granny. She didn't want a bag for her pumpkin, she wanted to carry it proudly, for everyone to see. One young woman has three boys, the eldest about 8 and twins a couple of years younger. They are lovely children, who carry a basket round the shop and take turns to put things in it. Another mother was a bit impatient with her daughter in a pushchair. I was sorry for her and the little girl, as the older son was just so annoying. He went and looked at the back of the shop, where supplies are stored. Then he came by the counter and looked at me. Most children, I'd have greeted in a friendly way. But somehow, he gave me the creeps. Funny, isn't it. I ignored him.

Oh, Bananaman. He comes in for a few vegetables, sometimes a lemon, but always a banana. He annoys Al and all his staff. Mm (preening) - he likes me. I am entirely sympathetic to his wish to check every price several times and to add the bill in his head at the end, because you can't really trust an electronic till. Al asked if I felt insulted, that he doubts what I ask him to pay. Not really, it's his foible, he can't help it. "You're happy" said Bananaman. I agreed that I was. "I can tell," he said, "you're always smiling."

I come home and snarl, of course. You can only smile for so long.

11 comments:

chandra said...

Z,

randomly browsing blogs i came across yours... you write beautifully. you'paint' with words, i with colours. come, lets meet at my place ;

chandrasart.blogspot.com

warm wishes

chandra

Z said...

Thank you Chandra. Your work is beautiful.

Girlplustwo said...

i am often fond of the bananaman types...their methods of keeping order somehow make me feel a bit safer and less chaotic, if only for that moment.

Z said...

Whoo, Jen, I've just met my match, and been surpassed, in tolerance. *Respect*

Anonymous said...

So does Bananaman only buy one banana at a time? Are they ripe and ready to eat then?

I can so identify with the smiley face all day for customers and the need to snarl when it's all over. Luckily, I usually have a long drive home (anything from 30min - 60min, depending on where my clients are)..so I have lots of time to snarl in the car, at other drivers and, in winter, at the very foul weather as well as other drivers..and then when I arrive home I am happy and grinny again...good thing really, seeing as I am on my own every 2nd week...don't want to snarl at myself all evening and my poor boys, bless them, don't need a snarly Mom when they are here.

About kids..I've been teaching two brothers since March. They are 8 and 6 (same ages as my two) and I fell in love with them immediately...they are just wonderful little boys...I could bring them home and keep them..but then there is one little kid at my boys' school who always eyes me out in an odd manner when I fetch the boys and he also gives me the heebie jeebies...I wonder if we are spotting some latent undesirable trait...

Right then...of course you can have more than one olive...I have a variety in fact...plain green, juicy black, garlic stuffed and marinated and almond stuffed..oh and some fresh marinated ginger too...lovely stuff...here..try some..

;)

Z said...

Bananaman chooses his banana very carefully. He might buy one, two or three. Sometimes he breaks a banana from a bunch, then changes his mind and puts it back, to take several minutes to select another.

Once a banana has a brown spot on it because it is ripe, or if it becomes bruised, we put it in a reduced price box. Today, he chose two from that box. And remembered to remind me that they were the cheap ones.

A couple of weeks ago he was browsing the bananas as usual, then suddenly exclaimed "Shit! - excuse me" and bolted from the shop. His bus had arrived and he had to hurry across the road to catch it.

Mm, haven't tried that marinated ginger before. Tasty.

Girlplustwo said...

i would have thought bananaman would have his bus schedules timed out a bit better. somewhat shakes my confidence in my chaos theory.

stitchwort said...

Funny how children you know are OK, but the ones you don't know are nasty, badly behaved mini-louts.
And totally essential to get your bananas right!

Z said...

It's easy to lose all sense of time when you are looking at bananas. And people are more particular about buying bananas than anything else.

How do we know said...

Hey Zoe.. i was here.. just to say Hi! Havent been able to read everything.. so will be back again..

Take Care~

Z said...

Hi, honey. I have written rather a lot this weekend, I feel sympathy for patient readers.

Hope things are going well for you.