i did something really weird today. i still don't know why. i wasn't like me at all. it was just after lunch and i decided that our cupboards had been bare too long. so i took the lift to the ground floor, climbed in the car, thought bad thoughts about the guy parked behind me on a horrendous angle, flicked the switch and watched my window wind itself down and turned on the stereo. as i drove to the supermarket i thought of very little other than how good it is to drive at friday lunchtime as most people are at one of the countless mosques in this quiet town.

once i'd parked (straight for once) i locked the car and walked into manar mall and entered the supermarket. i normally feel drawn to look at the dvds they have in the cheap bins as you enter. i could recommend a variety of other bins that would suit their selection better. without thinking, i walked straight into the belly of the shop as if on a mission. i had a list and i wasn't afraid to stick to it. it contained the usual, cliché of; milk, eggs, cheese, orange juice, bread, fruit, blah, more blah. so it was when i was in the produce section that i performed my unusual action. i like to get a bargain as much as anyone so when i noticed the mangoes were a little cheaper than last week i unpeeled a plastic bag from the roll and with remarkable ease opened it. i began to select a mango or two. 

now, i should explain that i was looking for mangoes suitable for smoothies. i like supermarkets because we spend ages making tiny decisions that never matter. as an aside, i spent a good five minutes looking at cereals today (and people looking at cereals) and eventually chose nothing reckoning that they either contain too much sugar or taste awful. i might have eggs this week. five minutes is quite a lot of time to waste. maybe it wasn't wasted. back to the mangoes.

i was about to pick up and delicately examine another mango to see if it was up to smoothie standard when, right behind me a man appeared to look at mangoes. he picked up a very green one (as opposed to the squishier yellow ones i'd been fondling) and lifted it to his face. he stuck it right under his nose and gave it a tremendous sniff. the kind of drawing in of breath you'd expect from a man rescued from a collapsed building after 17 days with no water and only the stench of his sweaty tracksuit to keep him alive. he then placed the mango back where it was, screwed up his face, made some hand gesture which sufficiently expressed his disgust and stormed off towards the vegetables, without considering the pineapples or pomegranates between the mangoes and the cabbages. i felt embarrassed.

obviously these mangoes were not up to scratch at that was obvious to everyone else, except me. what was i doing spending so much time with them? i'd clearly missed something. i silently thanked the man and placed the empty plastic bag in my trolley. i then headed straight for the beans and took two handfuls.

oh, and it rained today but i missed it. i was taking photos of ben.