Scratch a niche

Tonight, my customer was Miss S, a niche client interested in goods like TV Choice magazine, Tesco gift cards, scratch cards, and of course, a selection of 75% and 85% dark chocolate.

Having previous experience with Miss S's landline, I knew it would be fun to gather the shopping list over the phone. It took me 6 attempts, half of them going to voicemail, to get all the items. Miss S answered the phone each time, apart from when she tried to call me back (on a private number).

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?"

That was the start of each conversation when we tried to establish again the broken connection.

I didn't take a gamble on Tesco local to my workplace. I decided to venture to the trusty Tesco Extra in Surrey Quays shopping centre. That's more stock and way more steps, right? Where else I could get Tesco's prime cuts honey & mustard ham or a 400 g loaf of Wartbuton's Old English white bread with a decent expiry date? The availability of ProFormula dental floss was a disappointment, so I chose a more musical option and bought floss harps from the same supplier. Another compromise was getting baked potatoes with cheese only as I didn't find a cheese & bacon variety. I called Miss S to report the discrepancies.

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?"

Miss S didn't mind the vegetarian spuds, she was happy to get any.

I had to go outside the larger supermarket to buy a special item from the counter: a "3 in 1" £5 scratch card which completed my order. I left Surrey Vegas and walked towards the residential area in the North. Miss S asked me to call her once I was nearby and leave the groceries at the doorstep as it would take her quite a while to come downstairs.

"Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?"

I proposed that I can wait for Miss S to come down but she was confident that the groceries would be safe. I didn't want to put pressure on her and agreed to leave the bag downstairs. Hopefully, no one would guess there's potentially one million pounds hidden in there in a scratch card.