Now it may seem a little odd in the year 2016, but I
like to wash first thing in the morning with a bar of soap. Real soap. A bar.
Not the liquid in a jar with a push down handle which squirts the stuff into
your hand. I like these liquid things and use them all day long until the sun
sinks over the horizon, but not first thing in the morning. That is the time
for a flannel and a bar of proper soap.
My preference is for the light chocolate brown
see-through Pears soap. I would like to have Lifebuoy but they do not seem to
make that anymore, so Pears is fine. I would make do at a pinch with Lux, which
is white and creamy, but it is not Pears. No Sir!
There is a problem in all this. Until recently I had
sufficient soap in the bathroom to last me from the time Yvonne sadly passed away
until a month or two back. And so one day recently I set out buy soap and it is
not as easy as it sounds.
I went to Sainsbury’s, guessing that they would have a
wide selection from which I could choose Pears. In the aisle with toiletries I
searched and searched and searched again. No soap could I find. And so I asked
one of those kindly staff souls who know where everything is and insist on
taking you there even when you tell them that you can find aisle 24 unaided and
without a guide dog and no, you do not need to lean on their arm, for you are of
sound mind, have all your marbles (or most of them) and are not totally
incapable, but they are so kindly that you dare not upset them and so you tag
along pretending to be much older than you are. I guess that at break time
staff exchange stories of how many old folk they led about that day and if it
pleases them, who am I to spoil their fun!
There is the soap, the lady said, pointing to the very
bottom shelf where there were three types – Dove (which is white and creamy
like Lux), Pears (Hooray!) and another the name of which I forget. Just
three! Whilst there were about two hundred
different liquid soaps of every hue and colour, from lavender to rosemary,
vivid green to stark red, and – no doubt had I looked hard enough – salt and
vinegar flavour!
Aldi was even worse. Just one type of soap, wrapped in
an off-green pack so that you could not see the colour, but I would guess it
was white, and marked ‘Family Soap’. That, too, was on the bottom shelf with
the toiletries and not far from the felling axes, assorted hammers and
screwdrivers at knock-down prices.
I
bought two packs of Pears – in case they go out of business
meantime or Mr Sainsbury decides that soap is no longer a goer in
his stores. You cannot be too careful. I may go back and buy up half-a-dozen packs to be on the safe side.
meantime or Mr Sainsbury decides that soap is no longer a goer in
his stores. You cannot be too careful. I may go back and buy up half-a-dozen packs to be on the safe side.
