| | I went shopping this morning, and my travels took me into my workplace, where I went to buy Being Human. (Unfortunately, Toby had sent it back on a recall last weekend, so I had to go to HMV and buy it for the higher price. I had watched the first episode on Youtube, but I was pretty sure it shouldn't be there, so I wanted to buy the DVD to watch with a clear conscience.) When I was in WHSmith's, in the stationary department, a lady came up to me, saying, "You're young, I wonder if you could help?" I was about to tell her it was my day off, but I realised she wasn't asking me as a shop assistant, but as a fellow-customer. I obliged, telling her she'd come to the right place as I worked there during the week. She was awfully apologetic, but it was my own fault for going in on my day off. I got out of there as soon as I could, though. I went through every charity shop in the town, but was disappointed not to be able to find any werewolf stories - not even bad ones. Not even with vampires too. I don't mind one or the other in "real world" settings, but I think that too many kinds of mythical beasts roaming around doesn't quite work. For one thing, werewolves versus vampires is such a cliche in gothic fiction. For another, I find it difficult to suspend disbelief - that if there is that much, the humans wouldn't know about it. Harry Potter is different - that is a whole different world, even if it lives alongside the muggle world. Similarly, in high fantasy, you can people the world with whatever you like (Discworld being a prime example.) But in stories that rely on a real-world setting, and "powers" but not "magic" (there's a subtle difference) I think underground civilisations should be kept quite small. On my way home, I popped into the supermarket for two bottles of mineral water and a box of choc-ices. It was a small supermarket, with five checkouts, two open. As I queued, one of the staff members closed down her checkout to go on her lunch break, leaving one. There were, perhaps four or five in the queue. The woman in front of me asked a member of staff if they could open another checkout, so they buzzed to get another person. Woman, to her husband: "Well, I think it's disgusting! Only having one till open!" Now, I had been feeling a little frustrated about the same thing, but something in her manner made me defensive, as I have heard it all myself, when I've been alone on the shop floor, doing my best, and getting nothing but complaints for it. It was the word "disgusting" that did it, I think. I said to the woman, politely, "If it's like everywhere else, they probably are understaffed." Woman: "There's enough people out of work!" As if I was unaware of this. Me, with exaggerated patience: "No, I meant that they probably haven't the money to pay for more staff. It's the way things are at the moment." (Unsaid: "There is a recession on, you know.") Woman: "They should drop the prices, then, and get more people shopping." At that point an assistant opened another checkout and the pair moved away. Me: "I can't believe she said that in LIDL." |
