I was walking past the Burger King in town today when two teenaged girls bumped into each other.

The joy they experienced in encountering each other was ear shattering.

‘How are you?’ roared the first one.

‘I’m not well’ was the bellowed response.

‘Neither am I’ declared the first.

They bid farewell.

What was wrong with them I wonder? It’s a mystery.

An hour later I was in Dunnes to buy my dinner. Three generations of one family were in front of me at the till. The portly five year old child had his face mashed into an unpaid for chocolate muffin. His Da handed the chocolate smeared wrapper to the checkout woman who had a look of granite about her. She scanned it. Next on the moving supermarket conveyor belt was a plastic container that had once contained sushi.
It had no wrapper.

‘What was in that?’ asked the checkout woman.

‘Sushi’ said the man.

‘Susan’ roared the checkout woman to a passing teenaged colleague.

‘Can you go check for the price of this?’ she said, pointing with contempt at the oily, raw fish receptacle.

‘Hang on’ said the grandmother as she pulled a crumpled wrapper from her handbag. ‘This is it’.

‘It’s OK Susan’ yelled checkout woman.

The LOOK checkout lady gave me when it was my turn could gave curdled milk. The eyes were accusing.

‘You dealt with that very well’ said I.

‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph’ was her reply.