Conversations while shopping

1. A the bank the teller told me if I transferred money from one account to a new one I would earn 4% interest instead of nothing. Since when I worked at Digital Credit Union I ran a sales program to encourage tellers to sell other accounts, I complemented her on her technique.

2. At Elisabeth's, for spinach, gingeroot, Fuji apples, Pink Lady apples, swiss chard and salad, the woman at the head of the line was about to buy cronin, ordered by another client who did not pick it up. The small box was expensive, 10 Euros and the woman, who had grey hair, but was dressed in jeans, asked how to cook it. Elisabeth said in broth, and they should be washed with a tooth brush, but gently. No one else in the green grocer's had heard of this, but Elisabeth explained that they were popular in the North of France, almost unknown here. We learned that it was root vegetable and a delicacy. The buyer promised to report back on her experiment with a new food. The conversation on food and recipes continued with the four women in the shop.

3. At Babette's for bananas, butter, potatoes, an onion and oranges. I told her I hadn't forgotten the cat last night. We are sharing the care of Ptah II while a neighbor is away and I was busy interviewing people in Canada until almost 18h an hour after I normally went to my cat cuddle. I found Babette already upstairs, the key in the door, so I couldn't relieve her. We also discussed what we should do about the food in the frigo because of the loss of electricity. Because the street lights have been off for repairs from the storm, she also said that her husband Jean-Pierre had closed the grill fully as a precaution.

4. At Danni's where I bought salmon: A woman who had bought mussels to take to her daughter was complaining that the girl was pregnant and she, the mother had just spend 100 Euros for a pousette (stroller/push chair) Then she launched into a series of complaints on the girl's partner. After she left I said to Danni that she must know a great deal about all her customers. She said she was part psychiatrist, part counsellor. "Too many people are alone and have no one to talk to, so I serve as a listening board and friend, along with my fish." Danni is almost as wide as she is tall, although tall is not a word I would ever use to describe her. We then launched into what it is in the character of someone that integrates into a new community or even makes contacts in a community where they've lived all their lives.

Now if I had gone to a supermarket, I would never, ever have had all these human contacts, the glimpses into life, learning about a new food, the problems of others. Instead of rushing through my errands, I shared in the community as well as coming home with my lunch for the next two days.