Market Square

I stood in the Market Square waiting for my wife to come out of the supermarket. Old enough to remember times before supermarkets, my left eyebrow twitched and I looked at the scene around me.

An old man sat against the wall resting on his walking frame. He was part of the town's fixtures, never missing a day in this position, come rain or high water. He did it to raise money for the local hospice, and was reputed to have generated £67,000 so far. He was approaching 90 and had smoked all his adult life (and part of his childhood too). A black coated Gandalf, he observed the surrounding throng with a resigned smile.

Large mobility scooters choked the supermarket's double doors, and waiting dogs defecated on the ground. Wet tiles awaited the unwary, or perhaps attracted those seeking a compensation windfall. Inside the shop, four staff members could be glimpsed chatting in the self-service area and an unusual man forced his way through.

He resembled the old comedian Max Wall, with male pattern baldness, stoop and thin legs. Unfortunately, he didn't attempt the performer's legendary funny dance ( be sure to check this out on YouTube if you haven't seen it before). Instead he almost time-travelled through a sea of Chinese sports clothes, large bellies and blunt voices, eventually disappearing somewhere near the courier lockers.

Men of working age were gathered in apparently workless groups, admiring their hounds, laughing uproariously at their good fortune, and utterly oblivious to the cold in their Majorca shorts. One woman walked by with her dog in a pram, Big Issue sales went well, and the more swanky elderly ladies swanned by in Boho dresses, somewhat reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth the First's court attire, but with paisley patterns. Many of these ladies paired the look with two long ski sticks. 

The cash machine was approaching meltdown, as money poured out from the magical land known as government handouts. Many recipients peered into the dispenser, in the hope of seeing where Granny State actually lived.

The wolf stared back.

And waited.