The Fruit and Veg Man

The morning was clear and sunny and I had been woken by the usual 6am alarm, I followed my morning ritual and hit off to prep for the 8 o clock opening, I was mad early because no matter how I try I can't get used to the new opening time since the start of this covid 19 outbreaks, but that's irrelevant here.

Now our town is as predictable and unpredictable as they come, usually most places have Monday or some day quite for business and that would be consistent, no not where I live any day can be the busy one and its bloody annoying because you have to prepare to be busy and maybe end up quiet. That aside, on one of these such weeks on one of these days, on one of these mornings, when the spring sun was warming the place and making life feel good, I drove down town and turned into a small car park in the center of town. We call the square which is daft really, because its rectangular, odd how things get named.

Something didn't seem right it felt different bigger or something and then it hit me, the old gray painted box trailer that had been parked in situ for donkeys years was missing. PJ our old fruit and veg man was a street trader and had frequented the same spot in the square for as long as I can remember. This was strange as he visited the town 4 days a week and set up his stall selling all kinds of fruit and veg in the open air to the public. He was missing

I mad inquiries to discover that he was a victim of the lock down for corvid 19 and had to stop trading.Pj was an institution in the town and he had a sidekick, a local elderly

man that worked with him known as " Blind Luke". It was not known if PJ actually paid blind (Some said he just liked to hang out there to get the local gossip), or even if blind Luke was actually blind, but the pair got on famously regardless.

The point I'm trying to make here is that PJ the institution also suffed from 2 bad hips and a dodgy back so it is quite likely that he will not reopen his business in the town again when things return to normal. Poor olde Blind Luke will be lost.

Every community in every city in every country has those local characters that add colour excitement and little of craziness to every bodies' day, You can't help laugh at the daft story or mad spin that they put on a bit of local news or gossip. Every body walks away from these types of characters not believing a word out of their mouth or the radio in their car but with a smile on their face and a little bit of joy in there heart.

That dark day that you feel bad or things are going wrong is enlightened by the interaction with those type of people. We have loads of these characters over the years, with all sorts of nick names with how they were acquired long forgotten, "The half blind Quarter poet". "Toddy" "Smoucheen" " Long step" and many many more . These characters gave joy and substance to the local community,

They had a different agenda,

They weren't rushing about trying to make their fortune,

They saw life for what it was for "Living and enjoying" and did it to the best of their ability.

Saddly these types of people that take the time to engauge with you, bid you the time of day, ask if your all right and have a laugh are getting scarcein the community, and we all know why, but thats for an other rant.

We are all here trying to improve our own situations but let us not take our eye off what really matters on our way to our precieved success namly, family friends and community local or Wealth Affiliate. Be there for people help as much as possible and enjoy the journey of life One Day at a time friends, One Day at a time.

Regards
Mark