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Walking down Mill Street is like running the gauntlet
Walking down Mill Street is like running the gauntlet

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Every leisurely shoping trip has become like running the gauntlet

Vic Barlow
6/ 8/2008

TIRED of being pestered in Mill Street I tried a spot of shopping in Wilmslow last Saturday.

It’s worse than Macc with surveys, aid organisations, swarms of ‘students’ etc, etc.

With our town centres in decline, this is one irritating distraction traders could live without.

I have no objection to legitimate charities holding a flag day, but running the gauntlet of so many dodgy collectors drives me to distraction.

Of course I want to Save the Whale, but not on my own. I’d like to choose the time and place to make my contribution, not have a tag-team prowling the pavement outside my favourite store.

If I want to call into a charity and write them a cheque, that’s my business. I don’t need a folding body press or a Half-Nelson, thank you very much.

Buskers are fine, they just play their music and leave donations to chance, but some of the tactics employed by the Day-Glo T-shirt brigade are not, and swerving into a shop is sometimes the only answer, and there’s a limit to how much pick ‘n’ mix I can handle.

It’s mean of me, I know, to ignore the plight of the South American howler monkey when I’m window shopping, but it’s a stigma I’ll gladly bear if it stops those spotty youths pestering me in town.

I hate those trestle tables where they display grainy photos of someone (anyone) being tortured and ask you to sign a petition you know nothing about. How do you know your name won’t end up on a mailing list for a catalogue?

You don’t get this hassle at the Trafford Centre or Handforth Dean.

The views expressed on this page are Vic Barlow's and not necessarily those of the Express


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Most recent 2 of 11 user comments

   it grinds my gears, maybe im getting old, I have just agreed with J Barker!
slinkywizard, Macclesfield
15/08/2008 at 10:01
   Slinky, pull yourself together man, the way you and Vic are going will need counselling before you can face the mental trauma of going and buying a pasty from greggs. or some petfood in Vics case.
The Satisfied Customer
15/08/2008 at 04:27
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