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Across the road from where I was today, they had this "importers salvage warehouse" or something, so as the tapes spun, we wandered in for a while.
Rows upon rows of assorted cheap-looking objects. Toys, food, tools, and other miscellanities. Large bottles of scary-looking shampoo. CD racks in the shape of odd, wiry animals. Plastic soldiers with attachable parachutes. "brown jackets" and "green jackets". So many things, and I wanted none of them. A painted skull with a few feathers, on a stick ? Yours for only $15. But the carpark was full. People piled in.
During the taxi ride back to the office, my friendly driver Ivan greeted me by name - it wasn't the usual gruff "are you Andrew ?", it was a nice, pleasant, "hi Andrew, how are you going ?" He told me about Russia, and a 6-storey high christmas tree they have in Red Square during the festive season. "Here, over New Year...the weather is warmer, but the people are a little colder." I wish more taxi drivers told me stories, like Ivan did.
This lifted my mood immensely, at least for a little while after I returned to work.