I had a cup of coffee in a global conglemorate in Wimbledon Village yesterday. Disappointingly only the high bar stool area had seats free. At least I was the only one at the three bar counter, so consoled myself that I could spread out a bit, and territorially put my bag on the seat next to me. The seats were at the window, so I was looking forward to a bit of people watching. Luckily I had been able to park exactly in front of the cafe, so could enjoy the view of The Skip, squeezed in amongst the Porches and BMWs.
Within about two minutes someone came in and made a great fuss about getting on the end bar stool, then her partner joined in making a fuss about arranging the seats 'just so', and we ended up shoulder to shoulder. They did apologise for 'taking up my personal space' (cue bleak smile from me) but there was nothing to be done and I had to sit there trying to enjoy my tall cappuccino while they lovingly shared a chocolate cookie. The event wasn't enhanced by spotting a Parking Warden approaching my car. At least it gave me an excuse to leave the 'love birds' pecking at the chocolate crumbs and provide some entertainment for them as I jumped into the car double quick. The meter man was determined not to be thwarted and tapped on the window. The Skip only opens the electric driver's window when it feels like it, so we had to conduct our conversation through the smallest crack of the open door while Saturday traffic flew past just milimetres away. If I had opened it a bit too far, the parking man would have been minced up by passing lorries - I chose not to listen to my evil alter-ego on this point. We carried on like Pyramus and Thisbe while my hand twitched on the door handle. Luckily, we ended up all smiley and matey and new best friends and I didn't get a parking ticket (which would have seemed cheap compared to the price of coffee anyway).
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