Freeday 14 May 1999
Actually, as I may have mentioned, I personally like Shopping. Not least clothes. Browsing through a wide selection of clothes is fun even if you're not gonna buy much. Or anything at all, but I think it's a bit unfair to go try on lots of stuff if you're not going to buy ANY of it.
I was not the only shopper in town today. Yesterday was a holiday, and Monday is May 17th, the Norwegian national day. Funny thing is that instead of our Independence Day, which is just a minor event, we celebrate Constitution Day. Norway was something like the third country with a constitution, an idea inspired in our case mainly by the USA.
Anyway, the Constitution Day is THE big event of late spring. People dress up in their best (preferably new) clothes and shoes; there are marches in every city, town and village, where grown-ups and children alike cheer, wave flags and sing national-romantic anthems and hymns. This tradition was forged during our years of union with Sweden, from 1814 to 1905, and was essential in the rebirth of Norway from a collection of colonial provinces into a freedom-loving nation. Such was the effect that in 1905, when a referendum was called about continuing union with Sweden, more than 99.9% of the votes fell in favor of independence.
And so it continues. And with it, the need to buy new clothes as late as possible before May 17th. Tomorrow, Saturday, will probably be a chaos in town. I'm tempted to take the bus to town just to marvel at the chaos. And there's also the possibility of rubbing up against someone rubworthy. Special thanks to GabGab for telling us about the New York hobby of frottage (sp?), the rubbing up against people on packed buses and similar places. Though I would hesitate to be quite so intimate about it as they.
Just the other day, I was standing in the queue for getting into the
bus out of town, when I noticed a young man standing patiently by
the side of the queue. In front of me in the queue was a
young woman with a rather well defined behind, though a little
bit small by my taste (not that I generally go around tasting
behinds, now that I think of it). And sure enough, the fellow
suddenly very much wanted into the queue, right there. I'm
not sure what would have happened if I hadn't given him space,
he looked pretty desperate. And sure enough, within seconds
he was "casually" in contact with her backside. Yay trans-continental
information flow!
Or in Civ2-speak: "Vikings steal the secret of frottage!"
But it was pretty packed in the main street today too. I was out for lunch, as I use to. After the delicious Dolly Dimple pizza corner moved down to the fish piers, I've usually bought pizza buns at a nearby bakery. But today not only did I have to stand in queue and wait for some time, but then the pizza buns were all sold. The minor shopping center at the end of the main street was so frequented that people had trouble getting in through its doors. It didn't help that many of the visitors were strolling babies and toddlers. The strollers tend to pop up when there's a day of sun after rain, or (such as today) a mild day after a time of chill.
Myself, I didn't go shopping clothes until less than an hour before closing time. At that time, the crowd had drained away, and it still wasn't so last minute that I'd irritate my friends the shopkeepers. They know me by now and will greet me on the street, not to mention give me nice discounts.
In other news, my application for Mastercard was approved. By coincidence, today I also looked at some nice 17 inch computer monitors. If I remember correctly, one of my very first (not even archived) diary entries was moaning about my monitor and it's fickle cable that occasionally didn't display red. Lately it's also awfully dim for a while after startup, even with light and contrast at max. And it's small. And it doesn't work with some of my computer's screen resolutions. And without easy credit I would probably use it for a couple more years. :)