Did you hear about the study they did on the blood pressure of men and women going into supermarkets.  Women’s bp drops as they enter the zen of shopping.  Men’s rises as they enter a  jungle of stuff that isn’t hardware. (Blokes BP goes down in a hardware store – bit of a no-brainer, that).

I was employed as trolley driver.  Dodging a phalanx of women determinedly pushing shopping trolleys in (apparently) random directions.  I’d pick a backwater out of the flow, and stand there meeting they eyes of the (very) few other blokes standing near their trolley.  All of us with a haunted look in their eyes (as if their bp was going up), sneaking off to look at chocolate bars, steak and beer, wishing we were in a hardware store.

Round about when this picture was taken I was about 50% over the line on the gauges.  Into the danger zone where I get increasingly grumpy and am liable to buy something – anything – just to get us closer to leaving (never works, but I have to do it).

Sally, sensibly enough, reckoned we’d got enough and left.  Whew.

Forgot the rubber bands though – something that was to cause trouble later…..