I went into the Shifnal Deli the other day and the owner and her step-daughter stopped giggling, and looked at each other embarrassedly, as though I'd caught them red-handed. Doing what I had no idea, but it was like that moment when you interrupt people who have been talking about you behind your back. It made me wonder if they had been laughing about the last time I'd been in there when, as I only noticed after I'd left, I'd had my flies undone the whole time. Naturally this led me to check this time, so now they were watching me fiddle with myself.
To break the silence, I asked what I'd interrupted. And so they both started singing Minnie Ripperton's “Loving You”, and as they strove for the hopelessly out of range high note, collapsed once more into paroxysms of laughter. Last night Anne and I took part in this same game, surely obligatory across the country whenever the song comes on the radio. And as we did so, Bobby jumped up at us and joined in. By the time we were reaching for the climactic note he was so excited he did a little wee. Unless that was me.
I recommend this therapy for everyone, incontinence aside. Simple, pure, childish. It's the grown-up version of skipping. If you only do one thing today....
To break the silence, I asked what I'd interrupted. And so they both started singing Minnie Ripperton's “Loving You”, and as they strove for the hopelessly out of range high note, collapsed once more into paroxysms of laughter. Last night Anne and I took part in this same game, surely obligatory across the country whenever the song comes on the radio. And as we did so, Bobby jumped up at us and joined in. By the time we were reaching for the climactic note he was so excited he did a little wee. Unless that was me.
I recommend this therapy for everyone, incontinence aside. Simple, pure, childish. It's the grown-up version of skipping. If you only do one thing today....
That was an excerpt from One Dog and His Man. Buy it here.
One man takes the Northern Line from Tooting to Shropshire, where It seems to be mainly 1954 and raining. Enter Bobby, a rescue dog. The question is can Bobby rescue our stranded man?
"Mostly funny, sometimes hilarious, and occasionally poignant. It's also refreshing, honest, and full of personal reflections that will resonate with urban and rural dwellers alike. I think you'll love it."
(Redeye Rubin, location unknown)
"The part of the dog is played with verve and gusto"
(Bobby, Shropshire)
"I thought we told you to bugger off back to London."
(TE, Shropshire)
RSS Feed