Thursday 29 May 2008

Here's to the Polish guy around the corner

So I'm coming back home from work, stopping at one out of the two cornershops around the area, walking in, regular Polish guy saying hello very pleasantly, hell-oh how are u, etc etc. I'm asking for rolling papers, Rizla please, make it silver. Around about the moment I decide one's not enough, I ask for a second one:
-Actually can I have a couple, please?
-Huh?
-Can I have a couple please?
-Ae couple?
-Uhu, yeah, a couple(looking at him)
-What is?
-Just a second one
-Ooooo ae second okay
- (Smiling wholeheartedly)
-So one and one, ae couple?
-Haha yes amazing, super-dude, one plus one means a couple
-Hahaha dude?
-Forget it (smiling even harder now)
-You like ae bag?
-Nah don't worry, I think I can handle a couple of packets of rolling papers and a Kinder Bueno
-Haha okay have a nice evening
-Thanks mate,ciao
-Ciao?
-Goodnight!

It's for moments like these that I endure this trivial world of ours. This wonderful guy had a really yearning look in his eyes, and was able to locate a very crucial meaning in the word "couple". Now I know that this dialogue might seem completely out of place to you, and possibly, well, just plainly a load of bullocks but I can tell you now that you can't beat the element of surprise. Who would have thought that a simple word like "couple" would have generated that look on his face. You can't blame the guy for really, really, really, wanting to find out what the hell that is.
By now we all have agreed on the amazingness of the Gutter Twins album. Yes, yes. I can now safely say that it is an album which Mr. John Peel would have been honoured to play and provide airtime to. Which brings me to the subject that you should not and most hopefully will not, leave this life without reading his semi-autobiography called Margrave of the marshes.
I had the joy of listening to John Peel for about three years before he passed away from a heart attack somewhere in Peru, on a family vacation. Being a radio person myself, I have always been of the opinion that the radio is an amazing thing. I don't have a particular problem with other people that I don't know, play music for me. Think about it this way. The two best ways of getting to know a place, say for example you've just moved to a new place, a new city, a new country where you don't know anything and anyone. I can guarantee, that the best way to feel at ease with the place and the situation is to switch on the local radio during the day and go to a gig in the evening. Tried and tested.
Here's to Mr. John Peel, the first radio man who made me think that listening to all kinds of music is the coolest thing in the world. You are sorely missed.
And to the Polish guy around the corner.

No comments: