Thoughts Of A Nosy Bugger © 08 Barry Gardner

Why do they fascinate me so
these people I don’t even know?

I don’t mean the whole populace
Who make up this vast human race

These unknown friends of whom I speak
Are here at Tescos every week

Take that old man by the flower stall
He asks advice of one and all

Is he buying for his one and only?
My guess is that he’s sad and lonely

And that old pair I usually see
She’s here today but where is he?

I can’t help wondering where he’s gone
Maybe the poor old chap’s passed on

Those two over there by the Dream Topping
Look too excited to just be shopping

They look to me like eager lovers
With a weekend planned beneath the covers

Whether they’re married I can’t say
But I reckon that they’re playing away

Over there’s that woman with the big car
Who gives her kids a chocolate bar

“Do you want this one?” I hear her saying
But has she any thoughts of paying?

I can’t see that nice old girl today
Perhaps she’s gone with friends to stay

And where’s that young good looking tottie
On some beach in Lanzarotti?

There’s that poor chap with the nagging wife
She certainly brings him trouble and strife

If what she want’s not in the store
It seems to make her nag him more

Watching and wonderings’s so much fun
But it’s hard to get my shopping done

It’s amazing I take all this in
And not forget my bloody PIN!

That lady’s gone from the end till
I hope she’s not in hospital

The bloke who is there’s old and grumpy
While the girl behind him’s fat and frumpy

But I shouldn’t comment in this light
‘Cos I don’t know what’s caused their plight

Outside some kids skate on the forecourt
Harassing customers without a forethought

I wonder as the streets they roam
What sort of time they have at home

All these folks so oft I’ve seen
But where do they go in between?

Are they happy, healthy, lonely, sad
I ponder on what lives they’ve had

These people week-on-week I see
I don’t know them, they don’t know me