A couple of weeks ago, I went into the city to drop off some film I'd exposed of the Coppin Masonic Lodge. As I walked home from the tram stop I noticed two girls, both about ten years old, who were hawking orange juice to passers-by.
"Would you like to buy some lemona--, I mean orange juice?," one of the girls asked as I approached. "It's only 20 cents."
"No, thank you," I replied. "It looks good, though, and good luck with the project."
She dropped her head, dejected. As I moved on I could barely hear her mutter "Why not?" Three steps later, and I asked myself the same question. Sure, I'd lied about it "looking good." There was no ice to keep the juice chilled. There was too little of it in the bowl to make it look appealing. Their sign was too small and hard to read. But I gave them points for continuing a suburban tradition. I spun around and said, "I changed my mind; I'll have a cup."
From the look of the till, I was their only customer, so I tossed a 50-cent piece into the basket. In return, I got half a paper cup-full of syrupy-looking yellow-orange liquid.
"It's pretty tart," they warned.
One sip and a forced smile was all I could manage.
"Would you like to buy some lemona--, I mean orange juice?," one of the girls asked as I approached. "It's only 20 cents."
 |
| Orange juice sales is less than brisk in Brunswick West. |
She dropped her head, dejected. As I moved on I could barely hear her mutter "Why not?" Three steps later, and I asked myself the same question. Sure, I'd lied about it "looking good." There was no ice to keep the juice chilled. There was too little of it in the bowl to make it look appealing. Their sign was too small and hard to read. But I gave them points for continuing a suburban tradition. I spun around and said, "I changed my mind; I'll have a cup."
From the look of the till, I was their only customer, so I tossed a 50-cent piece into the basket. In return, I got half a paper cup-full of syrupy-looking yellow-orange liquid.
"It's pretty tart," they warned.
One sip and a forced smile was all I could manage.
No comments:
Post a Comment