Many years ago, I remember a mobile grocery coming down the street where I lived as a kid, a van full of all sorts of tins and dried foodstuff along with the more unusual bits of hardware. I distinctly remember my Mum once going out and buying a two and a half-inch plug (please note that no word was left out from in front of the word 'plug')! That was about all she bought as she always complained about the freshness of their food and the high prices.
There was one thing in common to those old days back in 1970s Britain, the weather. I was going to the post office and it was tipping it down, albeit slightly warmer than it would have been back home!
This guy takes mobile grocery shops to a whole new level. At first sight, I thought it was Amazon Thailand testing out a new driverless vegetable drone until I saw one leg sticking out from under the tomatoes. How in god's name did they manage to strap all those plastic bags of fruit and veg onto a little motorbike?
My next thought was, post! But then, the lights changed!
We set off in the rain, me on my little scooter clutching my phone in my left hand, my thumb hovering over the shutter button, my right hand trying to twist as hard as I could to keep up with him...
"Ma nee khun bugger Khrap, bpen au photos Market Friday post khrap." I screamed after him.
We hurtled down the carriageway, me still clutching my phone, grabbing an occasional shot of the 60mph flying broccoli...
The rain was beating down, stinging my eyes but I didn't give up, huge upvotes filling my brain with motivation...
I saw a gap appear up the inside and a chance for a full-frontal shot...
Of course, the problem was, it would have to be a clever crossbody shot as I had the phone in my left and was wrenching the twistgrip back in the right, my wrist at an impossible angle and we were doing 45mph, in the rain, one-handed but no problem. By some strange twist of fate, I was actually wearing a helmet. Only pool ball type with no visor but at least I was safe!
First attempt. I got the whites of his eyes and he was an Arsenal fan! A mobile Gooner grocery seller. The angle wasn't great as I was trying to also keep my eyes on the road as well as the screen...
Hang-on. Where's he gone? I stopped and looked back just to see him disappearing around the U-turn along with my dreams of a three-figure reward dissolving in the rain...
I was left at the side of the road in a wet T-shirt and red-eyes and a phone that was beginning to mist up with condensation...