Little Miss TROUBLE

My sister starts work at the charity shop – and change could be on the way

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My sister Deb sighed deeply. 'Is it always this quiet?' she said. 'And by quiet, I mean dull.' She and I were standing behind the counter of the charity shop, where she is our newest volunteer. We'd had a steady flow of customers during the morning, but then the rain set in and we'd been on our own for an hour or so.

By the way, if you're a regular reader, you might have mistakenly gained the impression that all we do is stand behind the counter and chatter while rain pours down outside. Looking back, I seem to have written about this quite a lot.

I could, of course, give you an account of an average day in the shop, but your eyes would almost certainly glaze over. Here's a little taste of what that would be like (the account, obviously, not the eye glazing).

Customer: 'Can I have this jacket, please?'

Me: 'It's rather nice, isn't it? I do like a houndstooth check.'

Customer: 'Yes, my husband has wanted one of these for years, but he's too mean to get one for himself. And this is just his size.'

Me: 'Well I'm sure he'll look very nice in it. Would you like a bag? I think we have a proper suit bag somewhere.'

Customer: 'No thank you. I'm only parked round the corner.'