Inner Writing
Joy in the Chip Shop Window
I’ve been a bit grumpy these last few weeks. You know how it is. Not sure why but just being a bit ‘out of sorts’ and generally……….grumpy. So this last weekend I decided to relax, embrace fully my grumpiness and watch a bit of TV (something I don’t do very often) and eat ice cream (something I do more often than I should). It was a relaxing weekend with ice cream and TV evenly and pleasantly spread throughout the two days.
This morning, however, my ‘inner-parent’ reminded me I hadn’t gone for a walk for at least two weeks “no wonder your a bit down” the parent said. I had an errand at Herne Hill, it was a lovely morning so decided to walk. I chose the ‘back way’ because I could look at the lovely gardens and avoid the traffic. The gardens and the sunshine gave me a great boost and lifted the grumpiness considerably. But it was the posters in the fish and chip shop window which really warmed my heart.
It doesn’t take much to enrich a community. It doesn’t need three year Lottery funding or a group of trained volunteers or a crowds of school kids in florescent tabards. It just needs someone to take a risk, extend themselves, to be imaginative and commit.
Those who buy their fish and chips from Ken’s Fish and Chip shop on Half Mood Lane know they are the finest in the area. They will also know that father Ken looks down on the staff and customers from a black and white photo on the shelf and also from heaven.
So on the 29th April it is father Ken’s 80th heavenly birthday and the shop is pushing the boat out to celebrate. They are sharing with the local community the birthday, the celebration and the memory with half price fish and chips, chocolate and fizz – you notice it says ‘unlimited’ – there is a deepness to this little act of generosity and community sharing. In these dark days of war and wicked crazy Presidents it is total joyfulness that this little shop is sharing the love. This poster mends my grumpiness it also grows community.
But there is another poster in the chip shop window.
This poster, it seems, is targeted at children who can find safety and a phone call to their parents in the chip shop. This is excellent, but most kids have have phones in their pockets to phone their parents or whoever. The point is, however, that this little poster is saying so much more than what it is saying. It is saying this chip shop cares about the community, that it will get involved if you’re in trouble, its saying you’re safe in this chippy. We all know that when we’re in a bit of trouble we need people who will be alongside, willing to get involved. This is caring for the well-being of the folk who live in the streets and being committed to them.
We will not find such a poster on the window of a Tesco Express, only a massive security guard inside paid to kick kids out of their bloody shop. The Hearne Hill community is richer and will ‘feel’ richer because of this poster. I have warm feelings for a ‘safe haven’ for us all, amid wet fish and hot fat.
So it is a hooray for Ken and his chip shop which continues without him, may he rest in peace. Hooray for those who reach out, get involved be bothered and care for their community. Its also a hooray for independent shops and the high street.
There you are, I’m already a lot less grumpy.
