Owen Jones

The Big City Today!

I am being taken into the big city today for the first time that I can remember this year!

That is not to say that I am senile or that I haven’t been to Phichai this year, it  is just that it must be more than six months ago.

We live in a small village about 10 miles from Phichai, which itself is a small town.

My wife normally goes to the bank alone, but I have to accompany her today, because the ATM ate my card on Saturday morning and Neem can hardly claim to be Mr. Owen Jones, being female, Thai and all that.

It is quite a palaver to do what we are aiming to do, because in Thailand people still dress up to go to the bank, even if it is just to pay in or use the ATM.

I was beginning to look just a little bit too much like Rip Van Winkel for Neem to be happy to be seen with me, so I had to wait for the barber, Deo, to open for a haircut and shave, before she would agree to going with me.

Deo is very thorough and so it took him an hour and it cost me almost one pound sterling – about $1.50, so not bad. I told him that we were going to the big city today, so he gave me an extra squirt of cologne.

Stage one is therefore complete and stage two is in hand – the motorcycle is being cleaned – it has to be, if we are going into town.

Stage three will follow soon: Neem will have to go to the beauty salon, if I am looking so good!

Then it’s 40 minutes over dusty country lanes that meander through green fields of rice, so that when we get there we will look worse than we did when we got up this morning, but at least Neem will know that we have tried to look our best to go to the big city today.

Isn’t life funny?