Southend U3A

Shopping - Jill Lane

September 2010

I hate shopping; I hate shopping for food and I hate shopping for fashion, so I was quite surprised when my best friend, Alison, asked me to go shopping with her on the next Saturday. I asked her to go with someone else, but she was adamant, so that's why Alison and I were wandering along our local High Street at 9am on a Saturday morning, aimlessly glancing into shop windows – that was, until we came to a travel agency.

Alison suddenly came to life, 'Let's go in here and have a look.' she said, so we did.

I was more than surprised when the assistant looked at Alison and said, 'Hello, Alison - come to collect your tickets?'

'What tickets, Alison?' I asked.

An awkward looking Alison mumbled, 'I have booked two tickets for a week in Spain, one for me and one for you; we leave on the 18th - your birthday - my present to you.'

Oh, what a surprise!

Our journey to Spain was very exciting, we chatted and laughed all the way there.

The hotel was lovely and so was the bright sunshine. We had lots of interesting walks, exploring the local vicinity, but one walk in particular stands out - it was early evening when we discovered a new market, there seemed to be new little caverns everywhere. One stood out because it looked so pretty, so of course we went in to explore.

We had only been in there for a short time, when, without warning, all the lights went out, but within seconds, dozens of pretty coloured candles were twinkling brightly. It was lovely, but my eye was drawn to a stand where I could see some beautiful colours glowing. I picked it up and it was a bracelet. As I paid for it, I said to Alison, 'This is the first time I have enjoyed shopping.' I really had.

Back home again, I often went shopping and enjoyed it, but please . . . don’t tell Alison!