Posted at Pauline Conolly,
A BIG DAY OUT
I detest buying clothes. It’s not that I don’t like to look nice, but it’s so time consuming and irritating. The older I get the more I dislike the whole business.
Anyway, I set off on a two day shopping trip to Sydney recently, staying the night on the North Shore at Mosman. The city is always always a shock after my quiet Blue Mountains nest, so first up I headed for the sanctuary of the Mitchell Library.
There was a specific reason for my visit; controversy over ‘the powers that be’ removing all the books from the historic Reading Room. I hadn’t signed the protesters’ petition because it seemed too weird to be true. But you know what? All the bottom level of books had gone!! I felt it was a bad omen. How can you have a library without books?
As I walked down to the city centre damn me if there wasn’t a busker playing Silent Night…in mid March! And a few minutes later in busy George Street I passed a bride in traditional white dress accompanied by her groom. What an odd place for them to be. There were no wedding guests. I smiled at the bride and was about to say she looked radiant but she didn’t smile back.
On I went, nearly colliding with a life size hippo in the Pitt St mall. Something to do with Taronga Zoo I think. I skirted around it because sometimes the staff have live snakes they encourage people to pat.
I prefer department stores to boutiques, because I don’t like to be pounced on and pressured. I will gloss over the horror of finding the fitting rooms and endlessly struggling in and of clothes. Sizing is all up the creek these days. I know I’ve lost a bit of weight but it’s crazy that I now fit into size 6 jeans instead of 10. I suspect the manufacturers just want to make us feel thinner and more inclined to buy! At least I found a few things eventually. Oh joy!
Clearly the store staff had been instructed to ‘engage and chat’ with their customers. As I handed over my credit card the middle aged assistant said;
‘You are very energetic!’
What a peculiar thing to say, I hadn’t exactly been leaping about the store…or swinging from the racks. I was unable to respond, apart from a quizzical smile. Her English was not fluent but I took it as a compliment until she added;
‘Some people are in a really bad way’. It’s terrible…. they can hardly walk. Even people younger than you. So don’t be sad dear!’
Oh my hat! And I’d been feeling relatively chirpy after my ‘finds’. I thought sixty was supposed to be the new forty. Pity she couldn’t have seen me on a trampoline a few months back. Naturally I headed for the nearest mirror for reassurance. I didn’t think I looked too bad. Mind you, I have the beginnings of cataracts; OMG, I probably can’t see myself as I really am.
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On the trampoline..viewed through a flattering veil of bar-b-que smoke!
It was clearly time for a big hit of caffeine and carbohydrate. I sat down after selecting what I thought was a cream puff, but it was a custard filled profiterole and look how the bloomin’ thing was served. No wonder it cost so much…I was probably charged $5 for the giant plate and the cutlery. Hmm, worrying shape too…..
Image may be NSFW.
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I caught the bus home after that, still in a state of confused deflation. As usual, it was very crowded so I had to stand up. A man smiled kindly at me when I nearly fell over as the driver braked suddenly on the harbour bridge. He didn’t offer me his seat but I smiled back because he must have thought I looked young and energetic….relatively speaking!
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Full moon over Sydney Heads. The answer to everything?
As evening fell back home in Mosman a full moon rose over the heads. I like to think this explained a lot. Lunacy!
Have you had a day similar to mine? Do leave a message in the comment box below. As always, scroll down and complete the simple anti-spam sum before pressing SUBMIT.