- Down the alleyway, next to the main entrance. a cluster of staff on their break. Their identical maroon and navy fleeces and the way they're huddled together makes them look like a sports team discussing tactics. You can hear their cackles and coughs as you pass. A cloud of smoke hangs over their heads.
- The security guard in the main entrance. He's tall and overweight and he's balding badly but has tried to hide this by getting a crew cut. He's bored so he browses through the newspapers on the carousel next to him holding his mobile phone, looking for competitions to enter.
- Several beenied students loitering in the runway behind the tills, getting in people's way. They're waiting for mates that are still going through the checkout and they congregate around the store notice board. Between their feet they have carrier bags filled with booze and blue and white packaged food. In their hands, pens and pads to write down details of second-hand white goods, special deals and part-time work.
- They've moved the sandwich spreads again. Every time I come they're somewhere different. I walk up and down the three most likely aisles, scanning the shelves. A couple of people glance at me when I say to myself 'Where the fuck is the tuna?' in a voice louder than I intended.
- At the checkout, there's social etiquette regarding the Next Customer Please blocks that separate people's shopping. It's good manners to put one behind your stuff when you've unpacked. Often, the person in front won't. They'll either stand with their back to you ignoring their responsibility or, more frequently, they'll have simply forgotten and will turn and say 'oh, sorry,' with a smile when you lean across their shopping to pick one up for yourself. Some people make a big show of it. They'll put their block down behind their beans or asparagus quite flamboyantly to make sure you notice how nice they are. They'll glance at you to make sure you've acknowledged this and if you catch their eye, you can see in their half-smile that they're proud to have done something considerate. Maybe they'll even use it as an excuse to start a conversation.
- There's a middle-aged man in front of me at the till. He's buying two tins of cat food and sixteen cans of own brand bitter - the sort where the alcohol content is the most prominent feature on the packaging. I interpret this as a horrible warning about my own future. He doesn't put a Next Customer Please block down behind his stuff.
- The shop assistant scanning my food. She's got short, jet black hair and wears a very stern expression. Without looking at me, she asks whether i've got a store card and whether i'm collecting vouchers. Her tone of voice reveals that she's asked these scripted questions a million times before and doesn't care what the answers are. As I pack up my shopping and take my card out of the machine, she turns to me and says 'hope you have a good weekend'. I don't think she's being ironic, the huge smile she gives me is so lovely that it must be genuine. As I leave the store i'm in a happier mood. An unexpected human gesture like that cheers me up far more than any roll-back offers or logos with smiley faces on.
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