Car Park Conversation

We have a popular adage that asserts that all accidents come in threes. So it is with cafetière glasses. We keep spares for the large one that dispenses our morning coffee. Two have been broken in the last month. That left one. This afternoon we therefore visited the Christchurch Sainsbury’s to maintain our reserves. Jackie was successful in this purchase and bought a few more items while she was at it. This left me in the car without a book. After a while a piercing voice penetrated the fifty yards or so between me and its owner. Phrases like “blue smoke”, “three times”, “I was in Social Services”, and “I went into lots of houses” reached me quite easily.

That held my attention for quite some time. The patient listener eventually managed to unload his trolley and make his way across the car park to return it to its stand. The picture showing part of a white head does not feature the capped head that had stopped him and continued to talk and no doubt gesticulate. Even when the victim did escape the orator continued from a distance. Eventually the shopper reached the security of his car and the other man wandered away.

Just after Jackie returned to the car a heavy shower set in. I was quite grateful that it had not curtailed my entertainment.

We then took a drive through the rain,

which paused for me to photograph landscapes looking down from Braggers Lane.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s succulent sausage, liver, and Bacon casserole; creamy mashed potatoes; crunchy carrots; and tender runner beans, with which she drank Hoegaarden and I drank Réserve de Bpnpas Cotes du Rhone 2019.

83 comments

  1. Here we would no doubt identify this gentleman as Latin, but he doesn’t look Latin to me. Your photo anecdote of this conversation is both dynamic and hilarious, Derrick.

  2. In France, despite having a conversation, both protagonists would be wearing masks and keeping their distance. Playing fast and loose in UK!

  3. I certainly hope the bonfire was controlled, as the trajectory of the smoke would indicate a decent wind speed. In our state most counties are under a burn ban due to drought conditions. And the montage of the conversation was a delight to view.

          1. I’ll try learning to avoid these techniqual problems… Really unfortunate incident… I beg your pardon to trouble you… Sharing one link of a post if you can read that I will share my posts with you that way… Coz i find our elders in our path are best treasures to guide us and I don’t want To loose any opportunity to learn all great people I meet on the way.
            Thanks for being there sir.
            http://rachanadhaka.com/2020/10/13/i-want-to-tell-them-they-exist/

  4. The man sounds, and looks very much like the tourist that cornered me at the Koala Hospital some weeks ago. 🙂
    They’re an annoying individual but usually harmless enough. Yes, they make great entertainment but usually only for the onlookers.

  5. HAHAHAHA!!!! That is THE best entertainment! So glad the rain didn’t spoil it! 😀
    I laughed at the man’s facial expressions and gestures…Like him, I often talk with my hands. 😉 😛
    I get people like that coming up and talking to me in public all the time…people I don’t know. My kids think it’s weird, but funny. They have a theory as to why that happens to me.
    Love your sky and landscape photos! :-
    HUGS!!! 🙂
    PS…When one of my professors in university would call on me to answer a question, he would listen to my answer and then say, “Now, Carolyn, can you answer the question WITHOUT using your hands? Sit on your hands and let’s see.” Ha! 😀

    1. I think I was facing the right man for me to remain unobserved. In fact it had gone on for quite some time before I saw the photo story potential. Thanks very much, Liz

  6. I’m glad you had some entertainment during your wait. Beautiful landscape photos.
    I’m glad Jackie was able to find replacements to “maintain your reserves!” 😀

  7. Having been the patient listener on many occasions with non-stop talkers, I’d much rather be listening covertly in the security of my car. I am happy for the talker’s smile.

  8. You have shot what is fairly close to a time-lapse movie of the very animated talker who I am sure had kept you entertained. The views from the Bragger’s Lane with those Lilliputian cattle are cute.

  9. After experiencing numerous broken. glass cafetières, I decided to find a more durable alternative: a steel body, no glass. It also has a slight insulating effect. Definitely on the recommend list, Derrick.

    1. Legally, we don’t need to wear masks. The men were too close but that is hardly the fault of the one who had been accosted.

        1. I feel even more sorry for the man who was accosted then! As you were writing your reply, I was just trying to work out what he could have done to protect himself – get in the car, I suppose. But it might have been a conversation he didn’t want to ‘run away from’.
          Difficult situation for him… I went for a walk with a friend last week who came and stood right next to me when she got out of her car. I didn’t know what to do, as asking a friend to stand back two metres when she had just had two years off work due to anxiety also wasn’t the ideal course of action.
          Anyway, the news has been saying that the pandemic is a northern English problem – oh and now one for Northern Ireland and maybe the Midlands. Goodness knows what is really going on but I’m glad you were safe in the car.

  10. There was such a contrast between the two men. What do you think, was the hat-less man annoyed or did he just have a less enthusiastic style of talking?

  11. An interesting exchange, Derrick. I hope the two are related or know each other quite well. They are quite close and unmasked.
    Rainstorms can be a beautiful thing to watch unfold from position of dryness and warmth.

  12. The conversation seems very animated by the gesticulations. I’m thinking: Maybe after the great lockdown of the century that man found a friend he hadn’t seen in a while.

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