Shopping and snow and changes!

Yesterday we managed not to have an excess of anything at the Italian class Christmas shindig. Moderation in all things! We had a nice panettone, bought from Aldi of all places.

I remember when they opened the first Aldi around here, opposite the community centre where I taught Spanish to adults. I used to stock up with cartons of orange juice at bargain prices after I had finished teaching. They sold a limited range of goods, their presentation skills were minimal - piles of boxes basically - but their prices were also minimal. This was the first supermarket I had come across where you had to put a pound deposit in your trolley. I suspect that this was to ensure that the trolleys were returned to the trolley store, avoiding the need to employ someone to round up stray trolleys. They ran a smooth and economical organisation!

The girls who worked on the tills had to learn the prices and codes for all the items on sale and were given a trial period to ensure that they worked fast enough. Those who could not put stuff through fast enough did not get a permanent job. No bar-code readers in those days! The cashiers still work super-fast - no chatting about the weather or how nice your ear rings are for them - but at least they don’t have to memorise all those prices. Which is just as well as the range of goods has gone up considerably.

I remember some people being very snobby about the store, saying it was for poor people, and others being rather shamefaced about shopping there, not really wanting to be seen there by the neighbours. And now I have my Italian teacher recommending the panettone and the Serrano ham, sold on the bone, complete with stand and special knife, for a very reasonable price! How things change!

And when Aldi shuts its door at 4.00pm on Christmas eve, they have arranged for charitable organisations to collect boxes of unsold goods to pass on to the needy. Very good, if a little Dickensian!

The country, or at least parts of it, almost ground to a halt at the start of the week after Sunday’s snow. Our second grandchild, the 14-year-old, was keeping her fingers crossed in the hope that her school would be closed. But no! She had to attend as usual. We got off lightly. For a change!

In the early evening yesterday it started to rain. That did for most of the snow around here. The hills that were white and Christmas-cardy have returned to a sort of dull greenish grey. Only on the footpaths, where compacted snow has been polished up with a slick of rain, are we reminded of the deep cold. Those footpaths were treacherous this morning and I found myself forced to walk in the road.

So it goes!