Moment in London...on Commercial Street

It was just another overcast Sunday at first. Nothing out of the ordinary.  We braved the cold (as all Londoners must to enjoy any semblance of a social life for three quarters of the year), exchanging the warmth of the apartment for the warmth of a nearby Vietnamese restaurant (and pho noodle soup).

On the way back we ducked in quirky clothes stores-slash-coffee houses and out of the drizzle which threatened to turn into real rain every time we dared to make another pit stop. But there was one more stop left to make before escaping into centrally heated comfort once more...a 'free shop'.

On Commercial Street.  

My first thought was that anything being offered for 'free' in a city as expensive as London had to be taken up. Or at least made time for.

My brother told me not to get too excited - there wouldn't be anything worth taking.  And he was right - a few old recorded TV movies on VHS tapes without covers, mouldy clothes in a damp cardboard box and some dog-eared books that probably wouldn't even appear in a garage sale were haphazardly displayed around the 'shop'.  More interesting was its message, and reason for being.

("Modern society is wasteful and destructive. Throughout the process of mass consumption we are exploiting humans, animals and the environment. Food is shipped halfway across the world only to be abandoned in supermarkets or household bins. It is the financial system that allows this to happen. While we base everything on monetary value without considering other costs incurred we will continue to live in a society of waste + (sic) overconsumption and inequality.")

In one corner was a sign calling for volunteers to sign up to mind the 'shop' so that it could continue to exist.

 I guess what they were really looking for were people to guard the writing on the wall.

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