Caveat Emptor...

...Buyer Beware! 

My dad taught me this Latin tag when I was quite young and I have always considered myself to be a Savvy Shopper. But I have to admit that on our trip to London this past week, I have shown myself to be something of an April Fool. I made two purchases in a hurry, and with hindsight, I could have done so much better.

My first mistake was the day we arrived. We parked the car, had ate our sandwiches at Liz's flat, then hopped on a bus to the Science Museum. We had a lovely afternoon- and were please dthat travel was free because we had our OAP bus passes. Coming back I suggested we go into the Co-op by the bus stop to buy some milk. As we waited to pay I saw a sign saying "Deliciously Special Hot Cross Buns reduced to clear". I dropped them in the basket ."We can have these toasted sometime" I said. I never really looked at the llabel [mostly obscured by multiple Price Reduction Stickers

When we did get round to eating them, Bob said "These are a bit peppery, what flavour are they?" 

That was when we inspected the wrapping carefully.

Who in their right mind, ever thought that it was a good idea to make that British Classic Hot Cross Bun and flavour it with Masala and Chilli? I'm not surprised that they didn't sell. They were weird!

Mistake #2 came on the day we left - we had a wander down the Walworth Road, to look in the CS, meander round Oli's Supermarket, and browse the East Street Market.

There was a fabric stall, and I stopped to have a look. Now I have a project in the back of my mind requiring a square metre of blue cotton fabric. The guy had rolls of cotton fabric in various plain colours. "How much is the cotton? Could I have a look at the blue roll, please?" He pulled it out, it was clearly 120cm wide. "It's £2, but you are the first customer of the day, so I'll only charge you £1.50" he said. "Can I just have one metre of that please?" I started to root around in my bag to find some cash. "Just the one? I can do you a deal on three for a fiver" he said.

Now I'm not sure - was he trying to con me? or just poor at maths? "No just one metre today please" I said. He found his scissors, cut the selvedge and ripped off my fabric [all the time I was still hunting in the deep dark depths of my backpack. He folded the fabric and gave it to me. I handed over the cash. And left. 

Only when I got back to Norfolk did I inspect it thoroughly. He obviously doesn't know about the metric system. It measures a scant 36" and isn't straight on one edge. I can use it for the intended project, but will need to rethink my dimensions.

Memo to self; do not ever buy fabric from this guy again. Come to think of it, he did look a bit like Del Boy...