Day 349: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

Who he?

In the supermarket the lad behind the till looks baffled, as my shopping travels towards him.   

Till Boy:  What is this?

Me:  A leek.

Till Boy:  A what?

Me:  A leek.  (Pause)  You're not a veg man, then?

Till Boy:  No...

(Time passes.  He's pretty proficient at scanning stuff with barcodes - cheese, oil etc.  Then we get to a bulb of garlic.  He puts it on the scales, and I see the lack of confidence.)

Me:  Garlic.

Till Boy:  Oh...  What's the difference between garlic and onion?

Me:  Same family.  Different taste. 



(Quite excited by this level of interest - could it be a turning point?  Will I be a vegetable Professor Higgins to his non-veg Eliza Doolittle?  I warm to my task.)

 

Me:  Also related to leeks.  All alliums.  (Then I catch his eye.)  Have you entered it as an onion?

 

Till Boy:  Yes.  It's coming up as 5p.  Is that OK?

 

Me:  I'm fine with it, if you are.

 

Know them

(Exit with criminally underpriced garlic bulb throbbing guiltily in my bag.)

I think it's fair to say that he does not know his onions.