Ye Olde Shoppe

Welcome.

The sign says Ye Olde Shoppe in quaint script but there is another sign. I sign that not everybody sees.

Welcome.

Yes that is my usual greeting but I have no need for the usual greeting as you are not the usual customer. I can tell straight away that you will soon become a regular. How can I tell you ask. Well, let's just call it experience. Some may call it a gift but I call it lessons learned over the course of time.

I know your thoughts, not all of them, I must confess but I know what you think. Your first thought when entering my humble domain was not due to your sense of sight but rather one of smell. You could smell the faint aroma of tobacco. Not a fragrance you like however, on this occasion, one you find comforting. When you do become a true regular you will, like the other regulars, take a deep breath upon entering the store. The familiarity of the aroma will be reassuring even though tobacco has no appeal. You give me a strange look like what I say is an alien concept yet given time your understanding will be complete.

After absorbing the sweet smell of tobacco, your eyes took over. They scanned the shelves, taking in as much detail as possible and yet taking time to linger over items that pique your interest. Don't worry I know you won't be buying things, you are not a purchaser and yet you will become a regular. I can say these things because I know them to be true. Don't worry, I can see the doubt in your eyes. I know what you are thinking. You are wondering why would you become a regular to a shop, or for that matter anyplace, when you have no desire to utilize the services provided.

Well I may have misled you, not in a deliberate way. Oh no, I have not mislead you out of any maliciousness. That would be appalling service and if there is one thing I pride myself on it is service. Do believe me when I say I have many years of excellent customer service. In fact I have more years than you would currently believe. Over time you will be a lot more trusting of what I say but for now I can see the doubt in your eyes. Don't worry all my regulars start out the same. The loyalty of my regular customers is not in question even if they buy painfully few items, and none which they cannot afford. You will demand to know the price, the full price, of any trinket that catches your fancy before taking it home with you.

It is easy to look at the lines on my face and think my ramblings are those of an old timer. A man that has lost too many of his marbles to the ravages of time. Yet you remain in my presence. Why is that so when the doorway is ten steps away. You remain because of another sense. This one is not so well defined to you as other senses of perception. Yet you know it's there. Possibly you need my help in fine-tuning that sense, maybe. Yet I am confident that if I took you to a square that had ten dark alleys leading off it, you would pick the one, and only one that would lead to safety. You probably do not understand how but it would be true.

Tea? Would you like some tea? I do not wait for an answer. Nor do I need one. I take this opportunity to disappear behind some beaded curtain out of your line of sight. This gives you the perfect chance to escape, to run like the wind and never enter my humble emporium again. Yet when I return with the teas you are still here. Yes you have move to a different aisle but that is only to browse different items. Items that you have no desire to purchase but items you are drawn to nonetheless. You browse, not with your hands like so many, but with your eyes. In your eyes there is excitement at what you see but in that other sense, the one I have mentioned but is still foreign to you, there is ****. That sense feels ill-at-ease by being here and with good reason. Here is your tea. Over time you will be comfortable here and will be able to relax but your guard will never be lowered. You will always think there is a hidden agenda or something that is just out of reach. A sight that you just can't see, a sound that you just can't hear, an aroma that you just can't smell. I can honestly say that is not the case, there is no ulterior motive. One of my most loyal customers has never bought a single item nor do they fully trust me yet they still return to my shop. It is, as they say, the only place that makes sense.

Not every customer says the same. In fact, for how many souls walk through that door, no two are alike. My regulars are regular because they find something here. Something that's unique to them.

Are you eying up that ornament of a dragon there? I think you are. Don't worry. I know you won't be purchasing that dragon. You like the item and yet it's not for you. You don't know why but somehow you know it's not for you. Would you like to know a story about that dragon? I take your raised eyebrows and slurp of tea to mean yes. Do you know of the legend of St. George and how he slew the dragon? You do. Of course you do. You know more then you let on, and you know more than you actual think know. Within these walls your understanding will increase in ways you never imagined. You could realise your true potential.

Anyway, this is a tale about a different George whom also slew a dragon.