Goats for the poor

I was happily sitting on my sofa eating a sandwich (Chicken and salsa if you're interested) this lunchtime when I received a phonecall. I answered the phone to find that a guy from work was desperate to find someone to come and work in Oxfam for the afternoon, since he was unable to do his usual volunteer shift and if they couldn't find another person they'd have to close the shop. I could have said no. After all it was a lovely sunny day. And I had important things to do like sit around and watch DVDs.

Instead I figured that it might be quite fun. And I'll try anything once, so I said I'd come along and help out. This is me helping out:



The store manager showed me how to use the till and the credit card machine and I sold some things to people! Mostly those bloody armbands to be honest, but I guess it all helps! I also did things like help cash-up at the end, spend 10 minutes looking for a sellotape end, assemble an uplighter and sit around drinking coffee (fairtrade, naturally).

Any customers coming in this afternoon would have found that the music was particularly excellent. I put Belle and Sebastian's Tigermilk and Snow Patrol's Final Straw on twice each and we also had a bit of The Killers. I like to think that these tunes aided sales considerably.

My favourite customer was a big drunken Geordie in a loud Hawaiian shirt who bought three small soft toys and fifteen armbands. I think they were for his friends who he'd left in the pub over the road.

I was however disappointed that I didn't manage to sell any goats. You can buy them from a catalogue. They're real goats but I don't think you ever get to actually see one if you buy it. They just give it to poor people I think. I don't think this is a brilliant idea - if I bought a goat I'd want to be able to choose what to do with it. Maybe I'd give it to a poor person, but maybe I'd just let it live in my bathroom and eat towels. But this isn't an option. It has to go straight to the poor. Probably not even the poor people of York either.

I'd like to see a campaign to provide each homeless person in York with their own goat.

So anyway, I feel like I'm good-deeded out for the day now, and will endeavour to do some evil this evening to even things up a bit.

I didn't even get paid! :-(