I spent the morning working on the novel revision (specifically growling over the bit with Pandora, which isn’t subtle enough yet). At 11:45 I walked to K’s house, and from there we walked to Hackney City Farm, where we had lunch in the café. I got in about an hour’s walking altogether. After lunch we descended vulture-like on Woolworth’s. I spent £15 on Christmas tree lights (multicolor) and basic ornaments (silver), getting more than enough to cover the 5′ tree I’d decided would work in my flat.
This is where I should mention this is my very first Christmas-tree-at-my-place ever. I usually just pick up trimmings at tree lots or farmer’s markets (in 2006 I got a massive pile of free boughs at Eastern Market in DC), then tie them up with ribbon and put them on shelves and mantles. But this year will also be my very first Christmas not-in-Southern-California, so a whole tree seemed to be in order.
And it is indeed a whole tree, potted roots and all. I’ll have to find I good home for it after the holidays, but I have a few ideas in mind.
Back to Woolie’s: while K and I were in line a woman brazenly walked past the ten-person queue and told the person at the front that she needed to go next. That person didn’t put up a fight, but the second person in line — a woman with a single item — protested. The line jumper said she had to get to Highbury (don’t we all have to get somewhere?) and that it would only be a few minutes more. Then a register opened up and she went to it with her massive basket of stuff. Normally this is the kind of thing I would get confrontational about, but 1) I was in a good mood, and 2) I was too busy watching the other people in the queue also let her get away with it. I’m still thinking about various social contracts and how tenuous they are.
However, on the bus on the way back a young woman offered her seat to the much older one I was standing next to, so humanity came out about even in my little corner of the world.
But now it is late. Tomorrow I’ll make with Part 2: Shouldering the Shoulder.