A group of beautiful country girls and young women have gathered around a dashing Spanish-looking shepherd. They seem to be enchanted by him and some of them have clearly forgotten about their kids who start wandering away from a little play-area put there by the rich owner of the local meadows and groves. The shepherd wields a piece of equipmnet and talks about some healthy Iberian recipes – for what I can't hear, as I move past him too quickly.
I don't really know what I'm looking for - I guess, just like most of the other people here – but I keep my pace brisk, fearing the lures of the place might trap me for ever. Finally, dizzy with colours, smells and special offers, I fall exhausted on a bench in the shade of a big plant, quite likely an artificial one, to get some rest and decide which pasture I'm actually heading for.
While trying to recall the map that someone put in my head at the start of the voyage - and I'm not talking about the one at the entrance that shows where all the shops are - I look at the men and women passing me by. I can see that some have already forsaken the quest for the big happiness in exchange for little substitutes of it available here, often at discounted prices. Others, still can't make up their minds and keep moving about torn between something deep and something expensive - or worse: something cheap.
Suddenly, just before I'm to swallow a bait - a lovely silk scarf, now only PLN49*, was PLN99 - and get tied with it to a deceptive and attractive peasant assistant for long enough to forget my journey's aim, I dash to the exit.
In the door I catch a glimpse of Ania (probably the longest legs in direct marketing) who sells cable TV packages. Judging by her eyes and the look she gives me – one of very few people here looking for genuine bliss.
*Now I'm kicking myself. I should have bought that scarf - it was sooo goooorgeous!
(A visit to the Arkadia shopping mall in Warsaw)
PS The Christmas Quiz, Question 2: What was the popular and allegedly based on embarrassing - embarrassing for them, that is - facts image of Palestinian shepherds around the time in question? At least according to the late x. Kaliciak, who taught me religion in primary school.
