More than Most...

So today we went to Oddballs (est 25 years!) in Camden Market. This is a shop to visit and to spend a long time in. Not because it is very, very large (it isn't), nor because it carries a huge range of stock (it isn't bad, but that isn't the point).

No, the reason for staying a while is that the staff are exactly what you used to get from the BR International Booking staff at Victoria station when trying to book an open return railway ticket to Vienna via Cologne (pre-privatisation and pre-Tunnel).

In other words, knowledgeable, helpful specialists who are deeply interested in their subjects and in your wants. At Victoria in those Halcyon days, a somewhat portly man in his thirties carefully leafed through multiple International Railway timetables and complex fares manuals, (real books, not Web sites), making notes on a pad with a stub of pencil and occasionally looking up to ask me for detailed clarification on difficult points regarding my desired journey. He thoughtfully offered choices to help me reduce the overall ticket price, and advised me (from his personal knowledge) on the platform layout at Cologne station so that my changes would be easier. This is all true, it really happened, and not that long ago (1989/1990), and it was wonderful. Today, following the nasty Tory demolition of the railway system in the UK (which I think we can all agree has resulted in an unsightly, disorganised and loathsome mess of a service and inter-alia created a new, mean-spirited language that diminishes those who choose to use the railway, changing us from passengers to customers and promoting the cheap shoddy term 'train station') , the same travel problems have no easy solution (although to be honest, the Man in Seat 61 isn't a bad try at offering something a bit more limited on the InterWeb).

Deep breath.

What I was going to say is that a visit to Oddballs is joyful, because of the staff. Today we witnessed one of the chaps on duty spend about half an hour with a Dutch family whose son wanted a new yo-yo - and that, if you don't know about these things, is a complex and difficult decision. The boy showed what tricks he could do and there followed a complicated Dutch - English conversation (given the topic, let's say it was in Danglais), with illustrative tricks being demonstrated with the various different yo-yo technologies by the shop assistant. At the end, with the relevant yo-yos being selected for purchase, the conversation moved on to additional equipment and adaptations; when the assistant could not quite work out how the chuck worked on one machine, he took the trouble to ring up someone who knew more about it on his mobile. Meanwhile, the other assistant spent considerable time (well over 20 minutes) coaching on how to perform tricks using two diablos at a time (diablii?), on the same string. Both of these exemplars discussed different equipment with other customers as they continued, and the yo-yoist stopped briefly at one point to show me some nice Henry's Thuds - and just as a side illustration he performed a five-ball cascade. Marvellous. We must have spent an hour in there and I was entranced. Oh, and we did of course spend a fair amount of money in the shop as a result. Just don't tell the Tories about it.

There is a further point, of course. Both examples suggest that online shopping - e-commerce - is unlikely to be able to offer the full, fun experience of a physical visit to certain shops. Those quirky bookshops with (hopefully) serendipitous filing systems, and those markets where you can smell the carrots, cheeses or tomatoes before you buy. Not to mention those places where you can also smell the books... Oddballs has a very good Web site - with lots of demonstration videos and Flash movies - but it is nothing like the real visit.

But as the railways have proven, this doesn't mean that these wonders will survive. And they certainly won't if we don't get out and use them. So the message is: get out there and enjoy the show.

(The title of this post comes from the name of a now-defunct juggling shop that I used to frequent, called More Balls than Most. Like Oddballs, and BR International Enquiries, a visit was a real treat. But it is no longer there. Again - don't let this happen to a joy near you).