Category Archives: As you read it

I scan the shelves and my eyes alight upon a magazine I haven’t read for a couple of months. To encourage my desire to maintain a reasonable level of fitness in my advancing years and on the advice of my GP. I remove it from the shelf. As is customary nowadays it is encased in a clear polythene wrapper. Oblivious to the current concern about single use plastic the publishers appear to share my own irritation at the number of people I see reading all the magazines without a thought of purchase, thus leaving the merchandise in second-hand condition, creased pages and dog-eared corners and all. After purchase I get the magazine to the car and head home. Eagerly I tear my way in and as I turn the first page an avalanche of paper leaflets fall onto the table thence onto the floor. Upon retrieval I glance at the inane sheaf of brightly coloured sheets. Amidst the promises of untold riches if I am willing to make a telephone call for a mere two pounds a minute I notice one extolling the virtues of a home stairlift, a winch to raise me from the bathtub and a host of ingenious ideas to make life easier in the home. Very helpful to an expected clientele of people considering conquering all the long distance footpaths in Britain or walking holidays in the country of their choice. At least they haven’t been clogging up the hard-pressed postal system.