flanerie.org

There is a charity store which I frequent called Oxfam. It is a good source of cheap books, but sells a wide range of other junk too.

Traditionally it is staffed by senile old women. A cash transaction can take any time between 30 seconds and 2 hours. Once the crazy crone serving me started reading the book I was trying to buy. It certainly adds a random element to proceedings.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Oxfam buying Frankenstein. The book, not the crazy doctor. Ahead of me at the cash register was girl aged, at a guess, 12 buying a bag of sweets. She was being served by a hunched old man, which struck me as a bit of a departure for Oxfam. Perhaps the sex discrimination rules have finally taken their toll.

After money had been exchanged the girl thanked the man and he said, "that's right, you go off and have a nice suck" (his emphasis, not mine)

The girl seemed unphased, but I am scarred for life. I wonder if this is the old guy's only pleasure, making inappropriate remarks to young girls. Or is it the tip of a throbbing ice-berg that includes sniffing bicycle seats and 'jousting' in movie theatres.

And what of the victim? No immediate signs of distress, but maybe she will never be able to eat sweets again. Or she might have repressed the experience only for it to re-emerge in her golden years in the verbal abuse of young boys.

Who knows. All I know is that wherever I go, strange shit happens.