Goat Stew

Saturday morning and, having done our meat-and-groceries run the week before, we had forgotten that most folks would be out shopping today.

Northgate wasn't so bad at around 9am-we returned a faulty solar light and got out of there.
Makro at Struben's Valley was another matter. The place bustled with shoppers and hungry on-commission salesmen. There was no concensus on the right side of the aisle on which to walk, and people literally milled.After accusing Warren of dilly-dallying, I cursed at the ATM which produced my cash on the second try. Normal conversation was impossible, owing to the combination of white noise, various clashing pieces of departmental muzac, and above it all some jerk on microphone exhorting us to rush to the high tech arena to snap up our bargains.

The till lady was incredibly slow, asking me for coins in change which I then had difficulty counting owing to the overriding blare of discordant sounds. I looked up. Till lady was wearing an expression not so far removed from bovine. I looked around. People staggering by with their eyes downcast, stoic masks on their faces. Not a glimmer of intelligence, curiosity or even irritation among the lot of them.

And I stood there, suddenly feeling as if I were the only human being left upon the face of the planet.
The moving beings around me seemed possessed of no heart, no brain, and no soul.
Of such moments are intricately woven theories of solipsism born.

Warren needed then to return to Northgate, where we purchased more solar lights. And then some electrical cable. Voltsing was missing from Northlands Deco Park, of a sudden. So we ended up at our local electrical store, right next to...

Chima's African Spices and Nigerian Foods.

..whose speciality is apparently Goat Stew. I wondered where all the neighbourhood goats had got to..