Post Titled: Tuesday Night Non-Fiction Quickie 18.30-20-35
Exhausted, doing a freeze-my hands bikeride to H&M after work totally expecting to find those fabulous €1,90 gloves- but when I get there - noo, no no, where the gloves were are only racks and racks of sunglasses and flipflops, and it is snowflurries outside. realising that I do not own a sweater, I buy a clearance olive-green acrylic pullover, -perhaps I can wrap it around my hands?
"Gibt's zufällig noch Handschuhe zu vekaufen?" I ask at the checkout.
"Neee, wir hätten das (nodding to the snow) nie erwartet. Sorry."
"Scheiß. Ok," shrug and smile.
Cold cold ride under the U-Bahn back to Kotbusser Tor where I begin to gather vegetables for my great vegetarian lasagne.
Fruit stand is cheap- 4 roma tomatoes for €.30! No interaction with guy working there, they are having a heated discussion.
Kaiser's grocery store with the foot-smell and constant cluster of alcoholics and their dogs out front has no Lasagne pasta sheets, but does have shredded mozzerella and cheap wine. Loud American in a corner downstairs on a mobile "Yea- ok. Ok, well. Ok, I#ll grab some (insert spiffy food name) and -- right--- right--- ok, see you in 20 minutes, ok. Ok, right. ok. ciao!" we give each other a look. Does he know...? I often wonder this, even if he wasn't talking I could probably peg him as American- I have been here long enough, but- can he do the same to me.
No-name Turkish markt has things in cans, I accidentally buy tomato paste because it is in turkish, -"scheiß!" mal zwei.
Edeka- sold out of coal for heating, or didn't re-stock.
"wir hätten das (nodding to the snow) nie erwartet. Sorry."
Find things, gather gather until my bike is so off-balance it is not really safe to ride, stick to teh sidewalks.
final checkout at another Edeka, the nice woman at the cashier (whom I see daily) is rabling and mumbling on about something, not really to me, even. My brain is tired, I can barely do German.
I do, however, pick out the phrase "and the parrot stole it-"
I perk up: "Huh, ein papagai?"
"Ja, eine papagai hat heute schokolade geklaut. Ein papagei wie eine Rabe. Ich kann's fast nicht glauben."
They had been victims of a shoplifing parrot earlier. He stole chocolate. They still couldn't believe it.
"Well, that doesn't happen every day." I tried to joke.
She shook her head and wished me a pleasant evening. Muttering "Ein papagai..." I think: "Gosh,I love the checkout ladies of the larger Kottbusser Damm Edeka."