in london everything is more expensive
a grey and hunched older woman stopped me outside the abbey and pressed a sprig of greenery into my hands. she said, god bless you, you will be lucky in love and lucky in life. the 28th of november will be a lucky day for you. could you give a little money to help the poor?
i fingered the coins in my pocket, pulled out one that was too small and thin to be a pound and held it out to her. she held my hand, the one containing the coin, said i would have a beautiful life and asked where i was from, and could i give any paper money to help the poor? i said i didn’t have any paper money. this probably wasn’t true, but it seemed equally unlikely that any donation would help the poor.
she spluttered, five pence!, tore the leaves out of my hand (leaving the coin) and walked off.