Text 808, 61 rader
Skriven 2006-04-25 23:20:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av CAROL SHENKENBERGER
Ärende: Re: Strange Eats
========================
 Hi, Carol,

 JM>  Maybe they never knew of the alternative. I am amazed how often I
 JM>  meet people here who don't know a thing about the Farmers Markets,

 CS> Oddly, we find that in Sasebo too.  Plenty of folks in my building
 CS> have never  shopped groceries at Tonoo (and arent even sure where it
 CS> is).  Now, their kids  sometimes know about it.  When I go out there,
 CS> it's often with an extra midgit  in tow with a 1,000 yen bill and a
 CS> small list of items to look for.
 CS> Worth expanding on that?  I wil take Charlotte and our pull cart and
 CS> she will  have her backpack and often enough another will jump along
 CS> for the trip.   Unless another adult is with us, they have to be age 7
 CS> or so or have an older  teen brother/sister to come with.  Normally I
 CS> have 2 or 3 in tow but sometimes  it's just me and Charlotte.

 CS> One time not long ago, had a group of 11 of us, but there were 3 kids
 CS> age 15-16
 CS> and 1 other adult (Jim who's transferred now).  Youngest was in a
 CS> kid-kart  stroller (age 3?) being pushed by his big sister (age 16).
 CS> Next aged sister  was a big 8 year old who kinda didnt like it that her
 CS> big brother (age 13) was  watching out for her ;-)  Kinda looked like
 CS> mother goose with her little  charges in tow.  It wasnt that hard
 CS> though.  Each person age 15 or over, had 1  to watch except Elise had
 CS> 2.  We'd stop every 4 stalls and look about and if  missing anyone,
 CS> call out 'girls rule' to which the answer is 'boys rule' and  then
 CS> you'd find the missing member (since it was almost always a boy gone
 CS> missing, but if not, just reverse it and it worked as well).
 CS> Oh the only 'rule' other than keeping care of your 'charge'?  Cant buy
 CS> anything
 CS> you cant fit in your backpack or carry home and no 'pets' (live eels
 CS> and stuff  like that are for adults to buy, not kids to bring home as a
 CS> suprise!).  Oh and
 CS> one other rule.  Have to stop and chat with the 'wreathe of smiles'
 CS> elder  mama-san and her flower stall if she's there.  Have to have some
 CS> of us get some
 CS> but thats never a problem.  Offer her a coin (elders check to be sure
 CS> it's not  a 500 yen coin as that is 1/2 they have to shop with, and not
 CS> less than a 10yen
 CS> coin as then she'd feel pressured to give stuff away) then just with
 CS> spread  hand and a smile, wordlessly ask for a flower.  She's always
 CS> got some simple  individual flower or group set pending on how many
 CS> coins.  I buy last with a  5,000 yen note and a quiet nod makes up any
 CS> difference quite nicely for us all.

 Nice story! I suspect Tonoo is way more complex than my simple Farmers
 Market. I have occasionally introduced people personally to it,
 especially when I had a co-worker from Hungary with no car for the
 year she was here. We worked out a Saturday schedule for me to drive
 to her apartment and collect her and her early-teen son, then visit my Market
 and a few grocery stores I would be going to anyway. That way she
 could shop better and more variety for her next week. From her dwelling,
 she was in walking distance of a convenience store only. (Well, also a
 pizza place and a liquor store, but I don't think either was her style.)

 BTW, my sympathies for your back problem!

 Joan MacDiarmid
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