Fight Club

My SixtySeven boots. Comfortable to walk in for about two hours, then they start to be a REAL pain. Still, I like to wear them going to work, as very few clients pay me to walk around a lot anyway.

Time for the autumn street market in Oslo's supposedly finest shopping street. The street is closed for cars, and people gather from near and far in search of a bargain. The shops set up market stalls on the street and do their very best to get rid of the crap they have been hanging on to for years, hoping for it to come back into fashion. Or for some IDIOT to buy it. As the value of these goods have been written off years ago, they can even sell it cash, without bothering about receipts or VAT or any of that inconvenient stuff. The whole things is a bit like Bond Street in London suddenly turning into Camden market, if you know what I mean. Except that Bogstadveien is not really comparable to Bond Street.

If I am home, I always go. The street is only two blocks away from our apartment, and - even though I never really find a lot of stuff for myself - there are always a few bargains to be found if you look carefully - and in the right places. As a bonus, the people-watching is great. Something happens to us all when we THINK we can save a lot of money:

1) We are willing to buy ANYTHING, as long as it is a well-known brand and there's a mark-down. It does not matter that it is only available in a colour that NOBODY can carry off. Oh, no - if it is Ralph Lauren - then we gotta have it.

2) We tend to loose all of our manners (if we ever had any), and pure basic instincts take over. Moms run over people with their strollers. There is a tremendous amount of pushing and shoving. The phrases "excuse me" and "sorry" seize to exist.

It can get ugly. Really ugly. If you are the kind of (sick) guy that gets off on female catfights, this would be the place to go. You would have plenty to work on for months (or - at least until the next street market). The worst fights tend to break out in shops that sell high-profile brands that for some reason mostly attract customers that can not really afford to wear that very same brand. Today there were riots outside the Diesel flagship store. People were pushing and pulling to get to the front of the stalls. Quite a spectacle. I simply had to sit down and enjoy it all from a distance - with a glass of white wine.