Post by ambersalamander on Sept 24, 2008 20:32:31 GMT
I met some very nice people last night at Billericay 
The bloke on the gate was nice. The people in the bar were nice. The people on the terraces were nice. The people in the tea bar were nice. But the true hero was the bloke in the club shop!
On arrival at the ground, I made my way swiftly to said shop. You see, I collect non-league mugs. Some people collect pin badges, but I can't drink my morning tea out of one of those, so mugs it is. I have thirty-eight non-league mugs, all from different clubs, some now obsolete. I know this, because I just counted them
Anyway, having spotted an array of lovely Billericay Town mugs in a choice of three spiffing colours, I asked the smiley gentleman (whose name was John) behind the counter how much they were. The problem was that I am skint to the point of no longer being able to withdraw any money from the bank until I get paid, or I shall be charged far more than I can afford for going over my overdraft limit. Again. I can survive perfectly happily without, for example, luxury food items or any method of transport other than my bike, my feet or my friend's car ;D but I simply cannot live without my non-league mugs! Anyway, he said they were a fiver. This was a little more than I had hoped, as I only had seven quid left. To last me until Friday. And I hadn't eaten, and the journey to Essex had made me hungry.
I asked John if he knew the price of the cheapest reasonably filling item in the tea bar, at which point he looked thoughtful and asked me how much money I had on me. I told him I had seven quid (and explained how irrationally important the mug was to me!), and he thought about it and came up with a brilliant plan! We're also playing Billericay in the FA Cup this Saturday, this time at home. John's excellent plan was this: I would choose which mug I wanted, and he would bring it to the game on Saturday, where I'd pay him for it. Mobile club shop! Brilliant! So, I picked my mug -a nice navy blue one- and John put it in a carrier bag so he wouldn't forget it come Saturday. Then he said, "Tell you what, I trust you. Now I've put it in a bag, I may as well give it to you, and you can pay me for it Saturday." And that was it. No questions asked, not even my name (in case I decided to scarper on Saturday). I supplied this anyway in case he can't find me on Saturday, but wasn't that absolutely lovely of him? That's what the non-league community is all about
It's kind of weird knowing that I owe Billericay Town a fiver and can give it back to them on Saturday, like they're a mate down the pub or something. I like having football clubs as mates down the pub.
The buggers still beat us though. They'd better let us win on Saturday, or they're not getting their fiver back ;D
The bloke on the gate was nice. The people in the bar were nice. The people on the terraces were nice. The people in the tea bar were nice. But the true hero was the bloke in the club shop!
On arrival at the ground, I made my way swiftly to said shop. You see, I collect non-league mugs. Some people collect pin badges, but I can't drink my morning tea out of one of those, so mugs it is. I have thirty-eight non-league mugs, all from different clubs, some now obsolete. I know this, because I just counted them
Anyway, having spotted an array of lovely Billericay Town mugs in a choice of three spiffing colours, I asked the smiley gentleman (whose name was John) behind the counter how much they were. The problem was that I am skint to the point of no longer being able to withdraw any money from the bank until I get paid, or I shall be charged far more than I can afford for going over my overdraft limit. Again. I can survive perfectly happily without, for example, luxury food items or any method of transport other than my bike, my feet or my friend's car ;D but I simply cannot live without my non-league mugs!
Anyway, he said they were a fiver. This was a little more than I had hoped, as I only had seven quid left. To last me until Friday. And I hadn't eaten, and the journey to Essex had made me hungry.I asked John if he knew the price of the cheapest reasonably filling item in the tea bar, at which point he looked thoughtful and asked me how much money I had on me. I told him I had seven quid (and explained how irrationally important the mug was to me!), and he thought about it and came up with a brilliant plan! We're also playing Billericay in the FA Cup this Saturday, this time at home. John's excellent plan was this: I would choose which mug I wanted, and he would bring it to the game on Saturday, where I'd pay him for it. Mobile club shop! Brilliant! So, I picked my mug -a nice navy blue one- and John put it in a carrier bag so he wouldn't forget it come Saturday. Then he said, "Tell you what, I trust you. Now I've put it in a bag, I may as well give it to you, and you can pay me for it Saturday." And that was it. No questions asked, not even my name (in case I decided to scarper on Saturday). I supplied this anyway in case he can't find me on Saturday, but wasn't that absolutely lovely of him? That's what the non-league community is all about
It's kind of weird knowing that I owe Billericay Town a fiver and can give it back to them on Saturday, like they're a mate down the pub or something. I like having football clubs as mates down the pub.
The buggers still beat us though. They'd better let us win on Saturday, or they're not getting their fiver back ;D
