Walking to work this morning, I notice that the Korean/Asian deli/supermarket that opened just a couple of months ago on my regular route has closed. I looked through the window and it was empty, all the furniture taken out. It seems like only yesterday the shelves were bursting with exotic fruit and vegetables, and I was bound to catch a whiff of something as I power walked past its entrance....Seeing it closed made me feel sad in a way, not because I ever went in, but I just liked the thought that it was there and it was open and that perhaps one day I could pause and buy a Korean pear for my lunch.
To be honest, I'm not surprised it closed, even though I willed it to stay open. It was situated on a small lane not really near to anywhere- and there was no obvious immediate market... I should have guessed the minute the signs went up saying that they now did lunch- a tiny table was squeezed in and places with cutlery laid out along it, but it was too cramped, too small to tempt any of the office folk from around who on their lunch hour, liberated from their desks, want to luxuriate in space.....
Watched the England Trinidad match yesterday. At the beginning of this World Cup I'd promised myself I was going to support England- I live here,have friends and family here and Nigeria isn't playing this year; Plus none of the African teams particularly inspired my support.....and it worked well for the Paraguay match. I was able to yell with the best of them at "our" boys to raise their game.....and joined in the screaming as we celebrated our lacklustre victory...
But yesterday with Trinidad, I could not help it- I think it was something about my instinctive sympathy for the underdog- but even though I started out supporting England, a little bit of me thought- winning for the English team will be a so what moment,what with pundits predicting a drubbing for the Trinidadians. But for these boys, holding England to a draw would be truly magical- can you imagine the celebration?
And when it looked like the boys were going to hold England to a draw, and as England players lost chance after chance, my sympathy slowly swung towards the Trinidadians...sadly (or happily) the last ten minutes of the match turned the world back to rights with two goals pushed in by the English and the drream of a giant slain by a dwarf crumbled.... I hope the English team raise their game and inspire me to cheer them in the Sweden game
To make up, I tucked into Ayelet Waldman's Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, a tale of contemporary stepmotherhood set in New York (what's with me and this new New York love? I wonder) which was smart,daring, bold, funny and ultimately uplifting....Roll on the weekend!!
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3 comments:
Yeah i always find it disheartening when a small business shuts down.. perhaps because I have dreams of owning one myself. Hopefully they'll bounce back in a better location though.
T&T could actually still qualify if England thrash Sweden and they are able to beat Paraguay.
Re: small business its another case of supporting the underdog. Its definitely disheartening when I find them struggling but when I want to buy my groceries I tend to gravitate to the stores that offer me the best deals the large supermarkets! Its that Convienience Vs Value for money balance
big up the t&t massive, they really have done themselves proud. no shame in losing to england. I tend to find that when local shops close its major supermarket chains have sprung up to squeeze them dry; if thats the case you can be sure the little korean man is sunning it large with the buy out funds. theres always a happy ending in retail.
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