ALL THE KING'S HORSES...
What is it about nostalgia that makes us want to revisit the places we frequented in the past? We cannot recapture time, our younger selves, the old phase... Despite being aware of this, I soldiered on - to Marks & Spencer on Oxford Street from Oxford St station - which is quite a walk.
I was hoping to find the things I used to buy there when I lived in London nearly a couple of decades ago. Well made cardigans, skirts, well cut coats... that have stood the test of time. M&S meant British classics and, value to me. The caramel wool and silk cardigan acquired in 2003 looks good even now. It is also coloured with memories of walking around Hampstead heath, the ducks and nice evenings.
The window display didn't look promising.
It was eleven in the morning and the store looked nearly customer-free. I tried on a few pullovers and woollens. Nothing fit. Everything was made to some new style - even though twenty somethings don't shop at M&S for clothes. Hanging in racks were diaphanous blouses with sequins on them... What's there to be said?
Upstairs, I said a Pollyannaish "Good morning, could you help me with fitting?" to the lady folding clothes outside the changing rooms. "Oh, we only do that with appointments" she said without looking up.
In the men's section, there was no one to speak to about sizing. I finally figured things out for my son after looking at many (many) labels. Because: There was no one to ask. Not a single human being.
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I paid. I converted pounds to dollars and smiled for the first time since I entered Oxford St. The Pound was sweeping the floor. I wondered whether the brand was still a bellwether for the British economy.
Exhausted and unbreakfasted, I went up to the cafe. "Is the chicken soup pie good?" I asked. "It's very good" she said. It was so good, it's memorable.
I asked the server for a glass of water after I had eaten. He said, water was next to the entrance. It was bottled water for which you had to pay. In a cafe. After you'd eaten there.
...And all the King's men, could not put Humpty together again.