The oven did turn up at 1730 last evening. After checking out it was intact and actually working, I burnt all the “newstink” off and started pondering on what to have for dinner today. Eventually I decided to invite Suzy and Sheila from my little class. They are the two most interested and they are always sending me Skype messages. Given the distance they are from me I half expected them to decline the offer but they jumped at it.
I offered a choice of cottage pie or stuffed peppers. I couldn’t really offer roast chicken because they are so puny here I would need to cook one each and as you know I am on a tight budget - particularly as the Golden Week will render payday late. In response to which they would like I received the reply “both”. the oven is big enough but hell, the pie will be more than enough for three so I made an excuse. I’m having the peppers tomorrow!
So I have just been shopping, right hip giving me gyp and as a consequence a not too sunny demeanour. My mood was not improved in any way in the supermarket when I went to get my vegetables weighed and priced. There is a sour faced cow that often does the weighing and sure enough it was her today. It’s not the fault of the customers if she doesn’t like her job and every time I have encountered her I have been left feeling just a little lower than when I started.
Not so today. She started weighing my things and then near the end, without so much as a word, she tossed my bag containing seven small hot chillis to the back of the scales. Now I don’t know about everyone else, but when I physically pick produce up and shove it into a bag, then go to get it priced, it means I WANT it. So she finished (bar my chillis) and without even glancing at me commenced weighing the next customer’s stuff.
I am sure many would have simply accepted their lot in these circumstances but that was the last straw for me as far as this hag was concerned. I brushed the other customer’s things off the scales and put my chillis on them, only for sourface to once again toss them with a sneer to the back. Now I was getting peeved. She never even tried to explain (it’s entirely possible that they were too light to weigh but I didn’t want or need a kilogramme) so I picked them up, gave her a sarcastic grin and pointedly dropped the bag, unpriced, into my trolley. One way or another I was taking those chillis home.
At the checkout I had every intention of asking for a manager so that I could explain and also lodge a complaint. However nobody in there speaks English and there were long queues, I would have held people up. So I did something I haven’t done since my early teens with fishing hooks and weights in Woolworths. I shoplifted. I justified it in my mind because clearly if the woman refused to weigh them, then they must be free! And if caught, THEN I would make a complaint. I must confess my heart raced a little as I exited the shop! You know, in future when I go there, if she is on those scales I will simply not buy anything from fruit & veg. I can get everything I need from the street stalls near my home so she has lost them my custom for those and I won’t have to carry them far any more.
One day I may just get a load of stuff though, let her weigh it and then, with a sneer, give it all back to her!
So the girls are hopefully arriving at 1730 if they can find me. They are bringing their own glasses (I can’t justify buying more yet) and bless them, when I offered to buy orange juice they said no need, we will drink beer and wine. If they drink more than one can and one glass apiece I will be very surprised. Expect a couple of photos in the next entry.
For now though, I am going to make a start on dinner. That’s a great thing about shepherds/cottage pie - you can get it oven-ready hours before and then relax!
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