They have a saying in Norway that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. They should know, right? Well sometimes I’m afraid British weather doesn’t always comply with that law of nature. Wind, driving rain, and freezing temperatures are one of the joys of the British winter we look forward to every year. And trying to run a market stall in the middle of a day like that is not necessarily the most fun thing in the world!
On the way down on Saturday I was pretty buoyant. The week before I’d had my best week since I’d started there. So much so that I’m now shitting myself about how much stock I have in the UK. I’m not exactly scraping the barrel, the wines are all very tasty. I’m just a bit nervous if someone wants a couple of cases of something. But I was sure I could fudge that somehow.
I needn’t have worried. After setting up the stall I watched the first few punters finish their morning jogs or dog walks by hitting the bakery stall or my mate Rob’s vegetable stall. I don’t expect a huge amount of business early doors. Trying to sell wine before midday is not the easiest. But when the weather closed in, my heart sank. I proceeded to feel time going backwards as customers were kept away by the freezing, wet weather.
I got some business done, thanks mostly to the amazing Sauternes that I had on offer, but the best thing about it all was the spirit amongst the traders. We really kept each other going. From the peanut butter lass, to the mushroom guy, to the free range chicken bloke. It really was a case of “you’ve got to laugh, haven’t you?”
I think you’ve got to appreciate this will happen at times when you take part in an outdoor market. We all took massive consolation in how much fun we still managed to have.
Here’s hoping for better weather next week!
Cheers
