I think I've mentioned before how much I love walking in Sevenoaks with my Dad because he knows everyone. It's impossible to get anywhere in less than an hour.
On Saturday morning I was overcome by curiosity and finally persuaded him to stroll along to the Polish deli with me so I could get my ogórek fix.
It was a beautiful sunny day (thanks greenhouse gases). Rounding the corner, we saw a man in a green gilet with a PDA marking out long slow strides along the edge of the pavement.
- Oh that chap used to work for the bank
said Dad.
- used to see him on the station in the mornings. Retired and works as a traffic warden.
We waved and he crossed the road to say hello. Before long he was telling us about the quirks of his job: how nice it was to be out in the fresh air all the time, and how annoying it was to get caught by cameras in box junctions and so on.
- I tell them you can always appeal. Usually it works. And you always have to check- it's illegal to issue a ticket unless you're absolutely sure. That's why I was counting out the paces for that one.
He indicated the car stationed precariously on the double yellow line on the corner of a t-junction. A woman had unlocked the rear door and was buckling a child into a safety seat.
- There you go, she's back now. Ah well we'll leave it then.
- Once I found myself booking my own car. I thought: hang on... there's something funny here: my car's in the garage at home. So I called my wife and sure enough...
Entering the deli was brilliant: less cluttered than Kefirek but still like stepping back across the border. On the door were little scraps of paper with small ads scrawled on them:
...'poszukuje pokoju'... 'tlumaczenie angielski-polski'... 'korepeticja' etc. And it was strange seeing St John's school referred to as 'Swietego Jana'...
- Dzien dobry!
said the guy behind the counter, and I was a little taken aback. Was the clientele exclusively Polish then?
Later in the day I realised why he had taken me for a Pole:
- What's that on your coat?
said my friend, pointing;
- some kind of Polish mafia symbol?
I looked down and saw a red heart-shaped sticker... 'Wielka Orkiestra Swietecznej Pomocy'.
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