Thursday, 1 January 2015

Ashbourne's Nice Ladies.

I bought a shirt from a charity shop today. I took it to the elderly lady at the counter who proceeded to irritate me with redundant niceties, culminating in ‘I hope it keeps you really warm.’

Thinks: Silly old bat; just get on with it.

I paid her and she gave me my change – £2.01.

‘Put the penny in the charity box,’ I said.

‘Oh no, no,’ she replied. ‘That’s your New Year good luck token. You must keep it.’

That was the first thing she said which made sense, so I decided I quite liked her after all. And I kept the penny.

And then the pretty Polish girl in the 99p shop wished me a Happy New Year – having first smiled apologetically for not knowing the answer to my question. (Are these cashew nuts unsalted?) I’ve come to quite like her, too.

But why do they do it?

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