HELLO!
Near Cruel World.

There I was like a near stranger at my once frequent haunt, London’s Borough Market. A newfound rookie in the field of play. Slowed down one minute to take it all in and the spatter of people, as if a sprinkler pulsed them by, stole me away. A discordant storm of wide eyed tummies enveloped the walkways, those tummies obviously connected to hosts-rather real people-but at first it’s super hard to tell. Its not until you connect with the vendors does it all disapear-the background & the foreground & more or less, the packedness of it all.
That said, I love it. I love the crowd, fuck it. Bring em on, Bring more. Let the word come through. They usually do. With their cameras taking flicks of paella pans they have never seen, or hanging deer, pheasants, rabbits, partridge, hogs heads and so on …
So I go. I go when it is busy, when it is closing, when its closed, when it opens, when they crowds are forming. I dare even say I am a regular. My wife-lately is more frequent a shopper than I until today.
I wanted to surprise her. I popped in and purchased the largest sea scallops I could find. I got her favorite cheese. And, I picked up an artisanal sun dried tomato and olive oil spread that is bananas.
After having picked up some root veg for a roast tonight I ran into a friend of mine. We hugged popped into the pub where we were standing in front of and as soon as we ordered I realized “Holy fuck I am missing a bag!” Ran back to the last point of purchase. Dude remembered me having it, but didnt know if I left with it. Shit. It was a goner. Maybe at the till, maybe at the pub. Maybe …
The long and the short of it is. I got vic’ed. First time since I can recall. Went back to re-purchase my goods. At each station I was asked why I was buying the items again. Told the story in brief… and presto. Folks were amazing. For free. All for free. Bloody Hell. I love the market. Big city. Little town vibe.