As far as possible, I will avoid any commotion, hurly-burly and busy places, especially since I retired from work. Sometimes things happen and I find myself somewhere I’d rather not be with no immediate escape and I have to grin and bear it.
With the exception of Springfield Mall, Virginia – going back many years when such places were new to me – I don’t like shopping malls. Warm and dry on a cold, wet day they might be, but bustling and noisy does not give me a pleasant shopping experience. My friend and I once got lost trying to find a way out of Manchester Arndale. We rushed one way, then another, back-tracked, or thought we were, and eventually asked a security guard. By then we weren’t bothered which exit, we’d find our bearings outside and we did. When our daughter was about thirteen she wanted to go to the Trafford Centre for her birthday treat, shopping, lunch there, everything possible. We had to do it. Luckily, she loved it and enjoyed spending her birthday money, having the promised lunch, but it was all in the over-crowded, loud hullabaloo that made me want to scream. I might be the only person who doesn’t like the Trafford Centre. I can live with that. I would probably hate Springfield these days.
It doesn’t stop at shopping malls. I can’t cope with having workmen in at home. Running repairs are alright and our usual heating engineer is very welcome when it’s time to service the boiler. Workmen with a capital W means builders and a team of them, taking over and making a mess, making a noise, either voices or machinery. As the family grew and more space was needed, it seemed like a good idea to have extensions here, there and everywhere which meant weeks of disruption. The end results were worth it. The house we move into will be staying exactly as we find it.
This Dr John Cooper Clarke poem reminds me of being lost in the hurly-burly of a pre-Christmas Arndale Centre,
Trouble @ t’Mall
Daily Bugle – Front Page News
A drunken posse on a booze cruise
Swear me in I got nothing to lose
High five – low morale
Trouble aye trouble aye
Trouble @ t’Mall
I heard about it at the Taj Mahal
I nearly choked on me Taka Dahl
I quizzed Chief Wiggum and he said, “Waal
Cuff ‘em boys – trouble at the Mall”
Tripe stand bloody fell over
Its covered the place in a beefy odour
Better take a nosegay pal
Trouble aye trouble aye
Trouble @ t’Mall
Bury my heart at Clinton Cards
Remember me to the old guard
These days you just gotta be hard
Because like they say in this here locale
Trouble aye trouble aye
Trouble @ t’Mall
H & M is full of flunkies
And Tony and Guy couldn’t give a monkey’s
In the dying words of Gore Vidal
‘Appen it’s trouble aye
Trouble @ t’Mall
JCC
Thanks for reading, Pam x
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