Well, actually it wasn't at all "pell mell"; being a Monday it was rather quiet but we did have a day in a shopping mall - an enormous one although my American friends would certainly assure me that they could fit ten Cribbs Causeways into any shopping mall 'over there'. Well, I don't care, Cribbs Causeway is big enough for me and I just want to say that I love it! Whoever 'invented' the idea of covered shopping malls deserves a medal. As I told the 'Memsahib', when she finally runs off with our local butcher who is young, dark and handsome and seems to require two hours to supply her with a couple of lamb chops, I shall sell up and move as close as possible to Cribbs Causeway and spend as much time as possible in there!
After a few visits I will have 'sussed out' the best coffee shop and café and there I will spend my time, reading my books, watching the people and, of course, striking up deep friendships with the better looking waitresses. It's dry, warm and with a slight buzz about the place. Of course, there are the occasional screaming 'kiddiewinkies' to be put up with, or better still murdered, but, hey, nothing's perfect in this life. Another factor that appeals to the Jock in me is that during the winter I could stay there every day from 9.00am to 9.00pm and never have to heat my own place!
I do not like massed crowds. I am more than a bit claustrophobic and huge crowds make me feel distinctly uneasy. However, people inside a mall are more spread out and when they move they tend to do so at a stroll rather than with any purpose. I am not by nature particularly gregarious and so I have no desire to actually talk to anyone in a shopping mall - assuming that any of them would wish to talk to me - but I do like the feeling of being among people. So, sitting warm and comfortably sipping a black coffee served by a stunningly gorgeous Polish/Lithuanian/Czech (delete according to circs) waitress, reading a good book and occasionally watching the people go by and wondering about their background is my idea of a pretty good day out! And yes, you are entirely right, I am a sad, old git!
Needless to say, there was none of that yesterday because the 'Memsahib' was on a mission, well, several missions actually, so we marched here, marched there - and then marched back again. At long last I did manage to sneak off and take a look in Waterstones book shop and, unbelievably, I could not find a book I really wanted. I am uneasily aware of that life-threatening pile of 'waiting-to-be-read' books and my conscience simply would not allow me to add to it. So I was a good boy, I was!
I just wish Cribbs Causeway Mall was closer. Perhaps it's time to knock down that old Abbey in Sherborne which, at over a 1,000 years, is well past its sell-by-date. That would make space for a really nice shopping mall suitable for an old English gentleman to wile away the hours of his days. Oh come on, don't look so shocked, you have to, er, 'get with it', I think is the current phrase. And anyway, us old age pensioners deserve a bit of consideration.
