I love it when one of the tenants sends me a text. No I don’t…that’s rubbish. When I get a text late at night about an over-flowing washing machine or a broken light – it’s my job, but it’s not really welcome. But I love it when they say (after newly moved in) ‘I’m so happy!!’ …or (as happened yesterday) I get 3 picture messages in succession – one proudly showing flowers gathered from the garden and 2 showing ‘before’ and ‘after’ mowing the lawn!…Yay! the tenant is happy!!
Last week me and Mom went to Sainsbury’s for a few groceries. This turned in to a 2-3 hour trip….Mom looked at her shopping list, (bread, onions, chicken, shower gel, fruit, vegetables, rice, potatoes, washing-up liquid)…but without her glasses, she couldn’t see it. She pushed the trolley, I followed her around. She walks very slowly and forgets what she has already put in the trolley. A few weeks ago, she watched the TV as Extinction Rebellion went on the march in central London (OK…they blocked the road while they had a party). I told her that husband and I were going to join them. Are you going to get arrested? she asked, excitedly. I hope so, I replied. When shopping my mum’s policy is a good one – quality, but at a bargain price. But in Sainsbury’s I noticed a shift in her attitude….the £1.00 bottle of her usual Fairy Liquid was eschewed for the £1.75 bottle of Ecover washing-up liquid…it’s better for the environment, she said. And in the end….she decided it was better to use (paper-wrapped) soap bars instead of plastic bottles full of shower gel. I’m impressed. She stopped dead, near the spices, and picked up a pack of nectarines from her trolley like she’d seen something alien….what is this? Without her glasses she couldn’t see that she was looking at the back of the black cardboard tray, and not the nectarines inside it. We both fell about laughing.
I’ve just sussed why people (including me) like spending time with young children and the elderly…for the most part, they are right here, in the only time worth wasting time in, i.e Now…and they are looking to have fun!
jx
Ain't we got it made? 