Dear LPG, 

I have a little story to tell...

I go shopping with my aunt every Saturday.  She is now in her early 90s, but a leisurely walk around one of Lewisham’s supermarkets is something she looks forward to and rarely misses. Even though we could easily fit the shopping in a basket, we go for a trolley which doubles as a sort of walking aid and makes it easier for her to make the journey, but trolleys come with their own issues these days as any shopper will know. 

She so often gets one which would rather steer to the right or left than straight ahead which is even more of a problem when you are trying to push it back to the car after the expedition, but we have a system.  We get back to the car and unload the shopping and then she takes the trolley back to the holding bay at the opposite end of the car park to the shop, while I time my drive past so that I get there just in time for her to turn her back on the trolleys and step into the passenger’s seat of the car.  

This usually works perfectly until someone is lazy and attaches the chain without stacking the trolleys properly.  This had been the case for three weeks running and she had had enough. So, as I approached I saw a lady determined to get her £1 back this time. Having taken my position, I could not leave the car because I would be blocking the way of any other car wanting to pass, but my aunt refused to leave her £1.

A little time went past as she repositioned the trolley this way and that, but the chain would not stretch enough to make the release of her £1 a reality.  I could see her frustration and shouted, ‘I’ll give you the £1 back myself’.  She mentioned the principle of the thing as she continued her battle with the trolley and another very long 30 seconds went by while I kept looking behind me to make sure I was not obstructing any car wanting to pass.

She tried this way and that and then someone else came to get a trolley, but they only had one of those tokens and she refused to give her trolley up for that.  I upped my game and shouted that I would double my first offer, but she was not leaving her money this time. 

It was then that I did become an obstruction, so I drove around the entire car park so that the car behind me could leave but, when I got back to the pick-up point there was another person trying to help with the positioning of the trolley.  I suspect that with the cost of petrol I had used an extra £1’s worth of petrol and with this in mind I shouted, ‘I’ll give you a fiver, just come on and get in the car’, but it was not going to happen.  There she was still grappling with the trolley.

I had to do the round-the-car-park trip again because of another blocked car behind me and in frustration I got back to my waiting spot and shouted, ‘I draw the line at a tenner!’ while someone who had been looking on and trying to help came up with the ultimate solution, an extra £1 coin which she used to release that misplaced trolley and replace it in the stack properly allowing my aunt to replace hers and get her money back. 

Now that I think about it, perhaps I should have parked the car and found one of the staff members in the shop.  It would most probably have taken less time, but I suppose that all that trolley pushing, and shoving was also a lot more exercise for her on the day.  

FI, Catford