'Shops! Glorious Shops!'

 It’s amazing how life in lockdown effects different people in different ways. I am lucky in many respects to be living with two other people - so I am never on my own for very long - but even then I feel ‘cut off’ from society.

The last 4-5 months aside from missing my lovely friends it is SHOPPING that I have missed the most! By that I mean I miss the fun of ‘pottering around the town’ browsing in charity shops looking for a bargain or thumbing through the second hand records and CD’s. With little money to spend these days I can fill a carrier bag sometimes with purchases from charity shops and even if I don’t find a single thing I always have fun looking and chatting with strangers…

Last night I had a ‘double whammy’ dream! I dream’t I was in a large shop of the type ‘Woolworths’ used to be!

Woolies Last Days In 2008

I was browsing the isles and got chatting to a very beautiful female member of staff! She had long blonde hair and a pony tail and had one of ‘Woolies’ old ‘slip on over the head fasten at the side’ style tops. I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about now but the ‘essence of Woolies’ has been with me all day today because of it! How I would love to be able to visit Woolworths toy department this Christmas! I’d deliberately use the escalator if I could just because the whole ‘department store experience’ is dying out now. I am VERY attached to Debenhams and have been keeping everything crossed this year that they will find a way to survive the pandemic but even if they do online shopping has become pretty much the ‘go to default’ for most people nowadays, hasn’t it?

There used to be something quite magical about shopping in Hastings town centre for Christmas presents in December. Sure, the crowds and subsequent queue’s at the till could be a bit wearying but seeing people everywhere carrying lots of carrier bags and boxes really brought home to you that Christmas was coming! Bobble hats, scarves and wooly gloves were all regular sights and having to ‘do the rounds’ to try and get the present you wanted when W.H. Smith’s or Wollies had sold out was all part of it! Not only was high street shopping good for retailers and the local Council it also helped keep you fit! With Hastings town centre being ‘spaced out a bit’ (an under-statement!) by the time you had trudged to

Debenhams, W.H. Smith’s, Woolworths and maybe Argos and then either decided to ‘head up Queens Rd’ or ‘make for the specialist shops along the Old Town’ you had done a few miles! Tired and thirsty a good cuppa and a rest when you got home (unless you popped into ‘Dimarcos’ of course!) was like the holy grail itself!

Now, as easy as it is to find what you are looking for, a ‘click here and a click, click there’ on Amazon is o.k. but it doesn’t really make you feel Christmassy nor do you feel as if you’ve ‘gone out of your way to find that special someone exactly the right gift’ either. It’s all very impersonal and functional - a bit like a visit to the Doctors surgery these days where the ‘receptionist’ is often a screen who BEEEP’S when ‘it wants to alert you’ that the Doctor (FAT CHANCE!) or ‘Nurse Practitioner’ is ready for you!

In truth, I think my dream last night was my subconscious minds way of telling me that ‘it’s about time you got married mate’ because ‘your era’ has kind of passed! (lol) As you get older you need someone to confide in about your ‘hopes & dreams and someone who is happy to listen to you ‘chuntle on’ about your memories, don’t you?  For now I only have you lot - my readers! 

Stay happy! x