Come walk with me. Look over my…
…shoulder. Sit inside my thoughts. Notice the fodder that fuels an imagination.
I stepped out of my overheated office one lunchtime this week. A bottle of perfume on my mind. I’m doing the quick city-worker-walk, dodging the motley crew of gawping tourists and brazen pigeons.
As I arrive at Chemist Warehouse a tense scene is unfolding inside. A security guard is in mid hands-free frisk of two teen boys, around 16. I push past, undeterred by the drama – I’ve got olfactories to sate.
Within seconds, the sideshow escalates when the taller teen pushes the security dude almost off his feet. The guard doesn’t flinch. And the teen screams,
“He was making fun of my haircut!”
What’s more shocking? The aggressive shove of an adult man or the dummy spit? Did the guard really mock his coiff?
The teens were soon kicked out and I bought my perfume – after deciding against asking the guard if he really teased the teen’s 80s-style ‘do.
Meanwhile, my ‘scrollstopper’ on an idle FB Marketplace browse was a vintage, rust n’ all egg-beater – yours for $5. The description reads: It was my nan ’s – with a free typo thrown into the batter. And my heart gave a little yelp.
Baked on memories going for a song. Surely the loneliest bargain in town.
Notice everything, friends. You’ll be richer for it. But be warned; you might be moved just a tiny, tiny bit by the sheer, heartrending minutiae of it all.
© Phyllis Foundis 2026