Letter From The Other Side; from Cynthia

Dear Del,

There was something I saw this week but I’m not sure what it was.

Perhaps an explanation is in order here.

We have a big new supermarket in our village. It was not welcomed by many of the small businesses or the population but their protests were swept away by the powers that decide such changes and of course the supermarket was built.

True to many of the fears voiced, there have been butchers close, greengrocers close and the hardware store and other variety stores run by small business people are struggling to survive as the tourists who keep the town ticking over, unwittingly help strangle the economy by using the giant supermarket they are familiar with in the city.

Many of the local people also enter its doors to buy products they have not been able to previously purchase without travelling some distance. Some go in initially out of curiosity, like mice approaching the cheese in a trap and soon become beguiled by the enormous range and ease of buying everything they need under one roof. Soon it becomes a habit and they remain in its clutches..

I too was in there picking up some products I would have had to travel some distance to purchase so I admit to not being immune.

It was here while perusing the vast variety of cheeses that I saw a young mother who was, I think, in the store for the first time.

Many people here have not enjoyed sophisticated shopping experiences and come into the town from extremely small settlements where they recognise and can put a name to every face they see.

What I watched was this young woman leaving her trolley in the middle of the isle with her hand bag open for passers by to peer into. She walked the entire length of the isle to pick up something she had already passed.

I stood watching partly from concern because it would be an unthinkable act in the suburbs where one clutches one’s handbag tightly under an arm having been warned by signs posted everywhere about shoplifters and the dangers of leaving goods and handbags unattended.

I worried for her belongings wondering why she would just walk off. Was it forgetfulness, a lack of experience in shopping in the supermarket situation, a lack of intelligence, a naive trust in everyone about her?

When I came home I kept thinking about what I had seen. A simple silly act you may say, but not really when you begin to think about it.

To me it is something that would have been accepted as normal years ago because we did trust one another more and people did respect other people’s belongings and property more.

It is a pleasure to think there are still some who have that attitude but I wonder how long it will be before this girl loses her trust in others and in what nasty way it will happen.

The other thing that struck me was that despite the opportunity that any practiced and quick witted thief would have taken of the goodies which could have been so easily been snatched because of her negligence, not one person looked or even gave any indication of noticing the open handbag or showed any inclination of even thinking about removing a purse or mobile phone from it.

So while I initially thought about the young woman and hope she will continue for a long time to feel so safe and trusting, I also began to appreciate the other shoppers in the store.

It is good to see little things sometimes, they often say a great deal about people and places.

Sometimes the small things we see disappoint and sadden us but it is very uplifting to see the pleasant and good.

What were the lyrics the Beatles sang?

‘What the world needs now is love, sweet love.’

There is quite a deal out there, we just have to see more of it.

From your ‘flower child’ friend

Cynthia