Yesterday on the crowded tram on the way home I sat opposite an old, well-dressed guy staring down into his shopping bag and muttering something which sounded like Easter Bunny. He was rustling around in the bag and comparing the contents to his receipt. Then he took out the items one by one checking them against the receipt.
He started talking to me and told me that an item costing 3 francs something was missing (a post season chocolate hard on sale perhaps). “I am a pensioner”, he said, “I can’t afford to be ripped off”. “Everything is so fast these days. They think because I am old and don’t see so good anymore that I won’t notice if they rip me off. I used to work in a big post office dealing with millions in cash and had to watch ever single banknote. My grandfather pre-war had a mentality of saving. Now people just spend all they have without thinking about it. It is all too fast.” He got off the tram before I did, quickly saying goodbye and rushing to the door. The other passengers smiled at each other, thinking crazy old man. I thought the opposite – he is one of the few people making any sense. That is the problem with the world these days. People will rip you off over a chocolate hare.
Liam Mor's Blog