Late afternoon, walking past the spooky shell of the Old New Amsterdam Hospital on my way to the taxi rank yesterday I decided to check out the wares on offer at one of the bread stalls by the road. While I was gawping at the array of different shapes of breads, buns and cakes on offer and trying to work out what I needed, the sales lady interrupted my confusion - "Wholemeal?"
Whu - Eh - Hmm - How
"Yes Please"
She knew what I wanted even before I did. And I'd never once stopped there before.
Of course, the prosaic explanation is that she had noticed that all white people love wholemeal bread (a quick survey of New Amsterdam volunteers suggested this is true here) or that she thought I was someone else.
But I prefer to believe she can just read my subconscious desires. I can't wait to find out what I want next time I go there.
Just up the road from there is another stall selling bread, a table with the following painted loudly on the front:
THIS STALL IS COVERED WITH THE BLOOD OF JESUS,
FILLED WITH THE ANOINTING AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
It looks like an environmental health warning. I'm sticking with the psychic one.
in sum: if you don't know what to do to your life, volunteer with VSO and ask for a placement in Guyana? :p
ReplyDeleteI think you're maybe reading a bit too much into that - how many types of bread are there? white, wholemeal, rye, brown (arguably the same as wholemeal) - you arent German so you dont eat Rye bread, you wear glasses and have the air of a Guardian-reading lefty about you - wholemeal is the obvious choice.
ReplyDeleteNot that I want to take anything away from your 'magical experience' of course.
Roland (feeling cynical, or is that cyclical?)
Here there is mostly 1 type of bread (very sweet white bread) in lots of different shapes. This stall is special for having 2 types!
ReplyDeleteThe concept of the guardian reading lefty doesn't exist here - i think it was just she had learnt that all white people like wholemeal bread. But that isn't as much fun as the mind reading theory.