I have been in desperate need of a pair of boots to see the next winter through. Inexplicably we have been dealt the terror of the last two or three years of very cold winter weather. In Scotland the snow drifts are piled up by lorries or rather snow plow converted vehicles on gently curved corners and are about as high as a double decker bus. For weeks on end you walk on compacted snow because it just doesn't melt, and driving becomes a bare knuckle affair as it becomes compulsory to keep an eye out the window for the next Council gritter to come along. Some cars parked outside houses get stuck. There they wait until the snow melts or a determined individual spends a lot of time digging them out. Then of course there is always the worry about where do you shovel the snow you have already moved from your own drive. The only place it can go is in the neighbour's. So getting a pair of boots was for me paramount, in consideration of the amount of walking I try to do.
My first choice was to visit a shopping complex called Bluewater, it is a retail park which got developed in an enormous chalk quarry. Visiting it you are reminded of this as the complex is based in the bottom of this quarry with chalk faces and vegetation all around it. It is easy enough to get to especially if you have a car. There is also access by buses but these will take longer. A hell of a lot longer. There are three retail giants who put in the largest amount of finance into Blusterer being developed. House of Fraser, Marks and Sparks and lastly yet significantly John Lewis. Together these three practically own the place. However going to this complex was probably the worst choice I could of made. As I walked around and saw the over inflated prices and designer labels everywhere I found myself getting angry. It is a place for the ponces, the toffs, the people who have money to spend. For example, I saw a coat in an outdoor shop, it looked ideal for winter, the type of coat which would keep you warm regardless, keep the heat in, the cold out, the snow off and the rain away. I saw the price tag, which was beyond justification to purchase. It is incidents like this which make me angry, it is almost like there is a different set of human beings who live in a different universe and also have a different set of genes. People who are not effected by the recession. I could not in any sense of my mental faculty justify the purchase, although I had the means to, I just didn't have the motivation or snobbery. It makes me wonder if these wonderful individuals actually have smelly shit. It also makes me think when will the revolution come? When will we rid ourselves of the obnoxious genetic freaks, what have we done to deserve them.
I went home after wasting a few hours and as I left the place made a mental vow I will never go there again, of if I do it will be on the guarantee of a bargain. The place should of stayed a quarry in my mind at least people would of had jobs out of it still and aggregates help to build the country. I got the buses back home and feeling tired slept for a couple of hours. On waking I thought of another place I could shop, not so far away and definitely not as pretentious as Bluewater. It was then in a shop called Sports Direct I got the perfect pair of boots I had in mind. At the price I expected to pay in the first place, perhaps one or two pounds cheaper even. I was verified in my purchase not to be a genetically engineered super rich human being, I'd got a bargain, I was real, am real, am alive and got a sensible head on these shoulders. Lastly, yes my shit stinks just like anyone elses. Although I wish it didn't. But hell, it is good to be a normalish human being. They also had a great line in coats at very reasonable prices as well. I'll be going out to check these out at another time. Possibly tomorrow. After all, if you have dry feet you need warm pits as well.
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