Tuesday 8 May 2012

The World of Pound

Following another damp bank holiday, ranting has become easier than normal. This week's topic, the great british institution that is the pound shop.

Like em or hate em, Pound shops have exploded in popularity and become as British as the Friday night kebab and Chicken Tikka Massala. We're rather blessed where we live as the ratio of pound shops to normal outlets seems to increase every week. Soon, every shop will be a pound shop. But what of the merchadise, I hear you cry. What of it...

About a year ago, Becky from Cornonation Street opened a new pound shop our way (if that hasn't got class written all over it, what has) You've got to understand, it was a pure fluke that we were in the vicinity that day, but it gave me the chance to sample their delights.

Canned food from obscurely named companies with dubious sell by dates, razors that take your skin off when you shave, perfume and deodorant guaranteed to cause rashes, socks that fit triangular shaped feet, packets of vegetable seeds that don't grow, toys that fall apart within seconds, oven dishes that don't like heat...

But it only cost a pound. You can hardly get annoyed that the garden gnome loses all it's colour after the first downpour or the 1kg of coffee you bought tastes bitterer than a vinegar sandwich. It's only a pound, you just can't get annoyed.

But that's what annoys me, all the pounds I've wasted in pound shops over the past year could probably have bought me the same amount of stuff that might have lasted, or at least tasted of what it was supposed to.

Probably the most concerning item I saw on a recent visit was pound shop condoms. Seriously, would you trust them? I wasn't that surprised to see they're also selling pregnancy tests.

This country, eh?




4 comments:

Jackie Buxton said...

Ha ha ha! You never fail to make me laugh. It would be wonderful to view the buying habits of those condom buyers a few nauseous weeks after that fateful purchase.
We play this game in seaside resorts, it's a bit cruel but we forgive ourselves as it all goes into the local economy. All holiday making participants have to spend a pound on the tackiest item they can find, invent a story around it and the winner, well the winner gets, umm, an enormous purple satin tie saying 'I'm hot'. I made the last bit up, based on Easter's winner however, the irony in the caption was what clinched it.

Charlie Wade said...

Thanks Jax.
Yep I agree on seaside tat. It's a whole subdivision of pound/cheap shop regalia, and possible worthy of a whole post to itself. Say what you like about the shops, they're ideal for buying presents for people that you don't really like.

Unknown said...

Great sign! LOL

Charlie Wade said...

Thanks Kym. It reminds me of the Father Ted episode where Ted and Dougall demonstated.

Post a Comment