The Insanity Of Tradition

On behalf of two family members I today ventured bravely in to the local bookmakers. Today was the occasion of the Grand National. The numbers present therein would suggest that this race is popular for placing bets. I would have thought that the Bookmaker would have known this too. Not so. Three tills stood at the far end of the shop to place bets. The till on the left was occupied by the branch manager and had "gone down". In a previous generation, this expression was employed to convey the fate of a ship or a fighter plane. But in Denbigh in 2010 the till on the left had "gone down". The till in the middle was far more entertaining. A man somewhat the worse for wear resplendent in track suit bottoms and sporting jacket was trying to establish to the cashier that a ten pounds each way bet should only cost ten pounds. Now I am hardly a devotee of the bookmakers but I do know that such a bet is so called for a reason the total of which is twenty pounds. I was not alone. The queue which had by now graced the high street with its presence was in agreement with me. To describe the man as unpopular at this stage would be a gross understatement. But no. He soldiered on with his own particular brand of drivel for fully forty minutes. In the nonsense stakes Edward Lear could have learned a thing or two. The remaining till was, shall we say, doing a rather brisk business. Whatever that girl was being paid was clearly not enough. When at last I reached the front of the queue, I was told that the slips which I had filled out could not be accepted and that special slips for the Grand National were available at the entrance to the shop. I walked past the leviathan of a queue to fill out the preferred slips and returned to the cashier to place my bets. At this point it occured to me that people today are neither courteous nor forgiving. I really felt like I had just walked the plank. I placed the bets,vacated the shop and went home to enjoy a blissful day in the garden punctuated only by watching the race. I had placed an each way bet so stood to win something if my selection placed fourth or better. My horse duly finished fifth. Some you win....