Monday: Shut-Ins Go Shopping

I made the trek through the alleway of Doom from work to inspect the offerings at Liquidation World and pick up a few bulk items from Extra Foods for my trip. Through the alleway of Doom, I encountered several down-on-their luck First Nations people, either smoking, bumming a smoke or staggering along the ice.

Nevertheless, I made my way unaccosted, which was nice and very courteous. I then finished at Liquidation World and went to Extra Foods. Now, I kind of expect unusual clientele at LW. It's practically a given... Suspect location, scruffy alleway abuts it, etc etc but surprisingly it was Extra Foods that gave me trouble.

Some loud and obnoxious people were investigating the bulk buns (grossly overweight and complaining about the lack of cheesy stix, and then selecting cheese buns while proclaiming they would be ''good for a snack at night'' while straining their sweatpants.

I assiduously avoided them, and landed in a checkout with some worse candidates. They were ponderously counting out change to the obviously frustrated checkout woman, and then this terrible, pungent stench rose from the obese woman in front of me. For a moment, I couldn't place the smell. At all.

Then, as I got another whiff, it came to me. Rancid urine. Maybe festering wounds and urine. I tried to mask my incredible disdain and backpedalling steps, but I think the checkout clerk knew it. She said ''excuse me'' and ran away from her till. She returned when they waddled their way out of the checkout line. The smell followed her and her partner down to the exit of the store, where I passed them. They staggered so slowly that I blew by them and practically ran out.

EUGH!