Standing in the queue at the petrol station yesterday trying to distract myself from the not very diabetic friendly display of cut-price chocolate, I found my gaze wandering to the shelves behind the cashier desk.
I spotted that while the real tobacco products were hidden as required by UK law, the vaping stuff was not. I'm not a fan of vaping - I find the vast clouds that waft around users as offensive as second hand cigarette smoke and worry that down the line it will turn out that the vape clouds are more toxic than tobacco by-products.
Making them smell (taste?) fruity or sweet or whatever worries me too. Could they make it any more attractive to children?
Anyway, I'm aware on on the edge of a rant so I'll return to my queue.
Next to the vape stuff there was another shelf with bottles of spirits. The petrol station in my town is one of those which sells alcohol and the shelves previously reserved for overpriced milk and dubious pastry products are now filled with overpriced wine and dubious alcoholic beverages.
But the shelf behind the counter is obviously reserved for more discerning customers, those who maybe fancy a pre or post dinner snifter. There was vodka, gin, brandy and whiskey. But the thing that struck me as amusing was there there was not one but two brands of sherry.
It made me wonder- who buys sherry from a petrol station?
My granny used to load up her trifles with sherry so I wondered if there was a need for out of hours trifle makers who needed to soak their sponge fingers?
Of course you can use sherry in a variety of recipes but I can't imagine that faced with an empty sherry bottle many cooks would panic and head to the local garage. You'd surely just make something else.
To be fair, the town near my home is painfully middle class so maybe there are just a large number of people who would not dream of inviting people over for a dinner party without a welcoming glass of sherry on offer ,or maybe the guests in the know, know that sherry is the hostess gift of choice in sophisticated households?
I have friends who do occasionally indulge in a sherry and I have to say it's a nice treat when you find one of the many brands and varieties you like. They have proper glasses and everything.
But I can't imagine even my friends would ever be so desperate they'd need to buy some along with their diesel.
I spotted that while the real tobacco products were hidden as required by UK law, the vaping stuff was not. I'm not a fan of vaping - I find the vast clouds that waft around users as offensive as second hand cigarette smoke and worry that down the line it will turn out that the vape clouds are more toxic than tobacco by-products.
Making them smell (taste?) fruity or sweet or whatever worries me too. Could they make it any more attractive to children?
Anyway, I'm aware on on the edge of a rant so I'll return to my queue.
Next to the vape stuff there was another shelf with bottles of spirits. The petrol station in my town is one of those which sells alcohol and the shelves previously reserved for overpriced milk and dubious pastry products are now filled with overpriced wine and dubious alcoholic beverages.
But the shelf behind the counter is obviously reserved for more discerning customers, those who maybe fancy a pre or post dinner snifter. There was vodka, gin, brandy and whiskey. But the thing that struck me as amusing was there there was not one but two brands of sherry.
It made me wonder- who buys sherry from a petrol station?
My granny used to load up her trifles with sherry so I wondered if there was a need for out of hours trifle makers who needed to soak their sponge fingers?
Of course you can use sherry in a variety of recipes but I can't imagine that faced with an empty sherry bottle many cooks would panic and head to the local garage. You'd surely just make something else.
To be fair, the town near my home is painfully middle class so maybe there are just a large number of people who would not dream of inviting people over for a dinner party without a welcoming glass of sherry on offer ,or maybe the guests in the know, know that sherry is the hostess gift of choice in sophisticated households?
I have friends who do occasionally indulge in a sherry and I have to say it's a nice treat when you find one of the many brands and varieties you like. They have proper glasses and everything.
But I can't imagine even my friends would ever be so desperate they'd need to buy some along with their diesel.