Most weeks I pop by at the wholefoods co-op. It is only open on Friday in the late afternoon, and on Saturday afternoon. It is fully run by volunteers. And this Friday I suddenly realised 20 minutes before it would close that I should go there. I quickly put on shoes and went. But the light wasn't on in the shop! I already spotted a man looking a bit puzzled at the shop window. We shared our surprise. And while we were doing that, suddenly a car stopped at the curb. It was one of the volunteers!
She got to the point immediately. She said she could give me the key, we could do our shopping, sort out the payment, switch off the lights and lock up behind us again. She also works at the local cheese shop, so that is where I could give her back the key. And she was standing on a double yellow line, so she kept it short. So I received the key, and the heavy responsibility, and off she was.
It was all a bit unusual. I went in with the man, whose name turned out to be Rowan, who was the tenant of a lady who frequents the sustainability events in the area.
We found all the light switches and got what we needed. When we were figuring out how to pay we heard the door. I realise then that we were in effect now running the shop! Any other customer could just walk in and expect to be helped. We would do our best. But no one came in. Maybe the doorbell sound had been a ghost.
Rowan and I either just put the cash in the till, or took note of the shop’s bank details, switched all the light off again, and closed up behind us. Sorted! And the next day I popped by at the cheese shop and gave the key back.
The shop |
I suppose this is one of those things that is unlikely to happen in a big city. This sort of shenanigans requires a certain level of familiarity and trust. The volunteer knows I come to the shop on a regular basis, so I'm unlikely to make a mess of things. That would disrupt my relationship with the shop. She might very well also know that even if she doesn't know where I live, her employer sure does. So if anything goes wrong with either payment or the key or any of that, people know where to find us. It was quite nice! It made me really feel a part of the community…
No comments:
Post a Comment