There’s a rule of thumb I usually try to abide by, and that rule is: Stay away from the public whenever there’s a public holiday around. Usually, it’s not a big deal for me to keep this in mind. So, I don’t know what has gotten into me that of all the days of the year I decided to go into town for some shopping today. I must have been out of the country for too long to remember this, but as soon as I got near the supermarket, I realized my mistake.

The first thing I was able to observe was the sheer number of people, cars, three wheelers, bicycles (and other modes of transportation) which flocked around the shopping center.

The next thing that struck me was the noise. I’ve known that people around here like to crank up some music in front of the stores (probably thinking: the louder the noise, the more customers they will draw or something). At this store, however, it wasn’t just one type of music yelling for customers to stop by. In fact, they’d set up two music stations, one running modern pop music, the other some classic music. And the entrance – you may guess – was right in the middle of the two. Talking about some serious musical competition here, and a definite stretch to the ears.

So, never forget that note to self: Do not ever try to go shopping on October 1st again, period!