I remember as a young boy visiting my granny for a sleepover and being allowed to watch `Top of the Pops`, my Grandad, who seldom moved from his armchair and only occasionally grunted would come to life when ` those long haired hippies` like The Rolling Stones made an appearance and he would shout at the TV or, much to our amusement, get up and slap it with his slipper.
I now realise that I have become my Grandad and it`s not rockn’roll but people who appear on shows where they go looking for antiques before selling them at auction. I don’t mind the reds v the blues, it`s one particular show where the antiques expert visits a shop (by the way these shops always have a jingly bell above the door ) mooches around before finding something that he always describes as `fun`, I think `fun` in antiques talk translates as no apparent use, recent examples include a donkey collar and a brass coal scuttle.
Even at this point I’m ok, it`s what happens next
“The tag says £100 but how much will you take for it”
“What about £90 ?”
“Ooh a little bit rich for me, I was thinking along the lines of £40”
“I could possibly go to £80”
“Ooh still a bit strong, how about £50”
“You`re a hard man to please, what if I were to say £70“
”I could go to £60 if you could throw in that miners lamp over there“
“Done”
Can you imagine the fun if all shopping were done this way, the days of a quick whizz round the Co-op a distant memory “How much will you take for these beans ? “ – “76p – Ooh, a shade more than I was hoping to hear, the figure I had in mind was 41p……………….”