Lightly toasted ..meduim rare

So it seems we are having another attempt at a British summer. Having had a few days of damp, dank weather we are now impersonating the Costa brava. I am not about to complain about it, but it does not help with the pain control. As those who have taken any medication codeine or morphine based will tell you, your system is already fighting dehydration. So add in a sudden heat wave and you run the risk of suffering a bad case of dehydration.

With that in mind, most people in my situation would be sensible and take in consideration the medication factor mixed with the pain, and probably stay at home read a good book in the garden and take it easy. Yea right! this is me folks and I never make easy. Being vegetarian my need for fresh fruit and vegetables is more than the average person. Unfortunately, I don't about the rest of you but I find supermarket produce bland and doesn't keep fresh for more than a couple of days. This leaves us with few options as local greengrocers seem to be as scarce as honest banks. So as a family we either support local farm shops or make the trek to Croydon to a place called Surrey St. Basically a permanent market that is predominately fruit and vegs

This week we decided to make the most of the seasons bounty and head to Croydon. Normally this a job under taken by mum and I, being the cooks in the family we know what we need and so on. However a 70 year old parent and heatwaves don't mix at all. So the job of pack horse fell to husband dearest. Against every ones better judgement I was determined to go. So shopping list written that resembled an a to z of plant produce, we set off husband pulling trolley unsure what fate beheld him. The bus ride should have forwarded us we were heading into an oven as the sweat literally poured off me. Granted we had to stop several times on the walk to the bus stop and the walk towards the market.Half way up there it became obvious to us both one trolley and the shopping list weren't going to fit, fortunately there was a shop at hand to assist with this problem and armed with a trolley each we progressed through the list. Surrey Street is a a busy narrow street with more people than pavement, but its friendly and reminds me of the markets Dickens used to write about. Some how we managed to fill our trolleys with assorted fruit vegetable and salad and I didn't get pushed or knocked once. Husband also got to see an English market at its best, with the local community working together.

Once we replaced our fluid intake we made the decision to walk further to get us to the bus that would deliver us closer to home. For some reason I took on the challenge to pull one trolley and was doing really well despite the intense heat and pain in my back. That was until we tried to pass people at another bus stop. It was there I meet the most selfish and inconsiderate bunch of people ever. Not only did they occupy the entire pavement, they made no attempt to pause or give a little forcing me and trolley to topple on to the tram track. This did very little for either the shopping or my back. Did I get a sorry or offer to help, like hell I did. Now you would think, especially if you know the area, I would be talking about a group of hooded youths with their waist bands round their knees, but no this was a group of middle class mid life people who had an attitude of they were the boss.

Once Husband dearest had scraped me and trolley of shopping off the tram line before I got hit by a tram, we continued back to the bus garage, however the damage was done. Everything I had achieved in the last few days is now in danger of being ruined. Not to mention husband was left pulling two trolleys and trying to stop his wife from ending up in a crumpled heap/ All in heat more suited to the south of France rather than south London.

Needless to say we eventually made it home, having been slowly roasted in the bus, and having to phone Mum to come rescue me from my trolley at the home bus stop. I am now in a lot of pain but proud of my achievement, A week ago I couldn't face the walk to the corner shop or even the post
box at the end of road. I know tomorrow I will pay for this grand adventure, especially as my beloved phoenix decided the photo albums looked better being fired at my back rather than on the shelf they live on.

What it did show me was that the only way certain members of the general public will not give an allowance for any one with out a blatant label on them. Granted I did lose my temper a little and yell "what do  I have to do wear a t shirt saying I am particularly deaf with a spinal condition" at the party that pushed me off the pavement. But in retrospect it does raise the question what will it take to make people aware of others needs. How many of us pre judge a person by just their physical appearance. I mean have you crossed the road because the person coming towards you looks like he is wearing more make up than a drag queen, and its sporting enough metal to justify a trip to the scrap metal yard. How many of us have tutted at a person in the disabled seat who doesn't appear to have a thing wrong with them. Most of us have done something, I know have made a flash judgement and been proved wrong. But I have also been the victim of people challenge my worthiness to claim a disabled seat on the bus. On more than one occasion i have been forced out of that seat and in some cases up to the higher deck, which is deadly for me now a days. The only reason it didn't happen today was the size and height of my husband deterred the normal barrage. In fact it has got so bad it is perfectly normal for me to return from a trip using public transport in tears either from pain or abuse. It has now become a running joke in my family that they are going to get a t shirt made for me reading

"I have hearing loss, and a fracture in my spine...whats your excuse!"

Unfortunately this joke is actually becoming dangerously close to necessity. For some reason when ever its said though, it leaves me thinking back to the Jews in Nazi Germany having to wear the star of David. Now I am not comparing myself to them, but I am thinking the prejudice still remains. It has simply changed form and become more accepted in its hidden form,

I will calm down tomorrow, and like the sun burnt face and shoulders I have acquired , the soreness of the day will fade, to nothing but mild irritation. For now though I am already thinking about how today's events will cause me to slow up tomorrow, and suddenly that good book in the shade seems such a good idea. So now I am going to hunt on line for a literary treat and resist the heat of tomorrow. I only do light toasting and I am already resembling a medium rare steak.