The Little World

Come with me to my local hobby shop – my happy place. Tool aisle, car aisle, kit aisles, paint aisle…as many wonderful aisles as one could want.

In these post-viral days we are instructed to leave a metre and a half between us and other people while sometimes wearing a mask. I do this, and if the shop makes other people do this, all should be fine…

Except when someone is blocking the aisle in which you wish to browse. If they scooch over and let you pass, you can both shop in safety. If they stand there blocking the passageway while you wait, the experience is the shits.

My visit to the paint aisle saw one of these chaps standing in front of the rack I needed. I waited patiently as he looked at the jars of paint – I understand one seeks inspiration and makes a careful study. I sawed back and forth on my heels and toes. I hemmed and hawed. When he started to thumb through his mobile phone I finally had to resort to loudly whistling ” The East Is Red “…and he finally woke up.

I was able to dart past and grab a pot of No. 7 Brown Mr. Hobby before he relapsed into a phonecoma. It may have been the effects of a long New Year’s fortnight for him…