This is a day when I should have been feeling low. But somehow smiles managed to accidentally break out of me as I was coming home from church…and I got smiles back. I popped into a new local fashion boutique and eyed-up all the rather expensive but very well made clothes and made friends with Charlotte the owner. Will definitely be popping back there again. Swaddled in puffy coat, scarf and hat…I managed a nod and a smile at a 35-40-something(?) chap as I walked into Sainsburys…rather surprisingly this stopped him in his tracks. He came up to me, said Hi and offered his hand, which I shook. He said something along the lines of…Nice to meet you, you have a lovely smile… I said thank you! He said you look great…are you married? Yes, I said, pointing to ring. OK, he said. If you weren’t married, would you go out with me? Well, I said..I have to say that I don’t make decisions like that so quickly…. in any case, you’ve no idea how old I am! Doesn’t matter how old you are, he said – you look just great! Happy shopping, he said, as he wandered off. Well, I can tell you I smiled a whole lot more after that. Now…what I’m wondering is…have I been harassed or something? I mean I don’t think so…but such is the state of things that people usually keep their heads down and don’t interact… is the world a more miserable place because we don’t? I know most people would have scarpered as soon as he offered his hand.
And because I’ve been walking and using public transport a bit more, I met and had a long chat with a Japanese lady on the bus, whom it seemed to me was taking her fox for a walk. Is that a fox? I asked…no she said. It’s a primitive Japanese breed of dog, quite closely related to the fox, called a Shiba. Shiba dog owners meet up once a month for a wander over Hampstead Heath. I held out my hand and the dog sniffed at me approvingly…wow…even dogs approve of me. OK, dogs approve of everyone. That’s what I really like about dogs…they just reckon everyone is a good sport and up for a bit of playing. Apparently people either fall into the ‘cat lovers’ or ‘dog lovers’ camp…but not me…I’m in both. I’ve never had a dog…but I really admire their attitude.
jx
Ain't we got it made? 