AGENT PROVOCATEUR
These are a few of my favourite things!
I
t is fast approaching my favourite time of year to be out on the road visiting different towns and cities up and down the U.K. and Ireland.
It’s
my favourite because the roads are not full of holidaymakers clogging up the system, the snowy weather, rain, fog and ice is subsiding and the lighter evenings are making driving a joy.
I feel very fortunate to be out and
about at this time of year as the hedgerows, fields and woods are just beginning to burst out of their winter hibernation (sometimes I wish that I could hibernate for the winter but we are seeing customers earlier and earlier to combat competition). If I am too early for my next appointment (not that it happens too often as I talk too much) I will pull off the motorway and follow the “B” roads for a while just to enjoy our lovely countryside. You may be thinking lucky so and so, all that time on his/her hands what a life, but the S/S season only just makes up for the miserable conditions we travellers have had to put up with over the last six months. Bringing me back down to earth with a bump (literally) is
when travelling from Mr Retailer “A” to Mrs Retailer ”B” . To take your eye’s off the road for a second is like captain Kirk going through an asteroid belt without any shock absorbers! With the amount of pot holes on the road left over from the frost and ice of the winter, I am really glad not be on a motorbike as some of these holes are lethal.
I have had to
replace two tyres in the last three months due to potholes and other members of the family have ruined their alloys at great expense. There is not a part of the country that has avoided these death-traps and no-one seems to be repairing them regardless of council! The lovely flora and fauna may cheer me up for a few
complex fluctuates in price depending upon what’s on in the Halls, but there is nothing more annoying than checking in at one price and then seeing Joe Blogg’s checking in and paying £20 a night less and not just because he booked months ago, oh no he booked the day before!! I am always tempted to cancel my reservation and re-book on the spot, but never quite had the courage to do so.
I am constantly trying to calculate if it is worth me
staying in one of these lodges or to travel home and use more fuel, but when you have been on the road for 2/3rds of a day and need to be in a similar area the day after, a chance to get to bed early and watch what I want on the TV is rather tempting.
I have always preferred to go home (my
minutes, but I am soon back to the “grumpy old G.I.T.” that left the house at silly o’clock when I need diesel! The ridiculous prices are making every journey a considered one…is it worth the visit? Do I really need to see the shop or will my customers be extremely kind and attend one of my stockrooms? Can I risk them not doing so? Gone are the days when I could fill up a tank for £40 and it would last a week. Now £85 worth of fuel only lasts me 3 days. My family tried to justify this by comparing a litre of diesel to a litre of Pepsi…all very well but unless I can convert my tank to fizzy pop, Pepsi isn’t going to get me very far…well as far as the bathroom! We do have better fuel economy these days, but with fewer independent retailers we are all having to travel further to see our customers and with the constant traffic congestion, fuel consumption has increased because I spending more time standing still.
I always seem to come to a dead stop
behind a lorry, or in a grotty built up area so the view is hardly idyllic. On the bright side if the price of petrol becomes completely prohibitive, my only other road-users will be the boy racers who don’t buy tax or insurance so can afford to drive miles, or Mr. Magoo the ‘Sunday Driver’ who will only do 40 mph whatever road he is driving on. My other bug-bear is the myriad of adverts extolling the virtues’ of
wonderful lodge type hotels aimed at the weary traveller, which have popped up everywhere in the last three years. They advertise accommodation from £19 and £29 per night, but can you find a room in one of these hotels for £29 when you want one? No, unless you want to spend a Sunday night in Lerwick on Jan 10th 2012. An establishment on the NEC
The lighter evening’s will see us arriving home in the daylight and it wont be long before we can get out in the garden after our evening meal (or even have dinner alfresco). We can relax and not spend too much time thinking about feet and footwear – that is unless the weather forecaster kindly informs us that it will be raining for the sandal-wearing months and an Indian Summer planned when the frostier air is expected – oh joy, who says I am a pessimist?!
other half might be reading this!), but one night when I had booked to stay away, my appointment had been taken ill, so I unexpectedly headed home. Needless to say I was thrilled that my better half had laid on a party in my honour, a Chinese banquet and several bottles lined up, how did they know that I would change my plans and come home early? The lighter evening’s will see us arriving home in the daylight and it wont
be long before we can get out in the garden after our evening meal (or even have dinner alfresco). We can relax and not spend too much time thinking about feet and footwear – that is unless the weather forecaster kindly informs us that it will be raining for the sandal-wearing months and an Indian Summer planned when the frostier air is expected – oh joy, who says I am a pessimist?! You may have noticed we are inundated with Bank Holidays in April (a traditionally rainy month - there I go again!) thanks in part to a Royal Wedding. Fortunately the shoe trade has never had to provide Royal Wedding memorabilia – can you imagine a regal flip-flop complete with intertwining crowns, or fluffy slipper showing a smiley Wills and Kate? So let’s all stay positive, get some rest and relaxation and do enough business in March so that we can all shut up shop from the 21st April to the 3rd of May, put our feet up and enjoy a very long holiday whether it’s at home avoiding the busy roads or jetting off somewhere a bit warmer!
12 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • MARCH 2011
www.footweartoday.co.uk
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