Open !
The grocery store in the neighbourhood is a shop, of course ! But it is also a place to meet, to talk, sometimes a confession booth. It is, in fact, the nerve centre of the district ! Four children are already waiting impatiently for the grocer ! The metal door is closed. They stand in front of the shop. The youngest one, with two coins in his hands, starts sighing and decides to sit on the small step. The elder sister holds a small refundable glass bottle of a well-known brand of soda.
Finally, here he comes by bike!
Of course, he knows all these little ones who call him loudly and shout his name «Hassan, Hassan». Waving around him, they barely let him open his shop, remove a chain and lock and break in half to sneak inside, behind what looks like a counter.
Ready to work !
He is now sitting higher than the street level. Each of the children now goes with his command, speaking all at the same time because the game is to be heard and be served first by the shopkeeper. The sister wins, receives three coins, her bottle deposit, and chooses three fresh pieces of bread cooked in the neighbourhood oven as well as the pieces of cake.
The little boy finally grumbles that his mother wants a milk carton, Hassan adds a candy. The smile replaces the pout. It’s a bit of a paradise for children. “Bimo” is the magic word for all those cookies, those choco bars that attract them before and after school. The pocket money is quickly spent.
At the same time two adults arrive : a young man, barely awake, and a woman in her pyjamas. No need for coquetry to go to the grocer’s, he is as intimate as a brother, a parent.
The center of the world !
The centre of this world is the “hanout” or “pisri” (derives from French “Epicerie”). The place is cramped, tiny, to say the least. In reality, the grocer can barely move and yet he is comfortable now climbsing a ladder to reach things above. It is almost like a supermarket as the shop is very well stocked. You’ll find everything you need for your home.
Ali Baba cave
Here, everything can also be purchased in small quantities. One fresh or hard-boiled egg, a dose of tea, one portion of Laughing Cow cheese, two chocolate squares, a spoonful of flour, a disposable razor, one cigarette, even toilet samples (small squares of soaps, shampoo dose, mini toothpaste tubes), a phone charger, a sim card…You can also have a sandwich prepared. Tuna, hard boiled egg, cheese, mayonnaise…
Throughout the day, the front of the shop is always busy. Customers flock to it, locals and tourists alike, without ever queuing. Orders come from all sides, someone tells the others the neighborhood gossip and the grocer hears everything, calculates, notes purchases on the credit book, collects the money and gives change with his twelve hands!
Before the next wave, he listens to the confidences of the neighbor’s son who has quarreled with his father and asks him for advice… A passer-by calls him without stopping and asks if he can deliver a gas bottle later. He never really has a moment of break to watch the screen of his mini television. The grocer is not only a merchant, he also plays a role of social link. It lacks only one thing in his shop, the psychiatrist’s couch !
Then comes the time when the grocer can go home, very late at night, find his home, and have sweet dreams. Hopefully he doesn’t need to count sheep to fall asleep!
