Today is Alla Helgons Dag, which I wrote about last year. This year, the day was grey, foggy and very wet, so we didn’t venture to the cemetery. One year, I'd really like to go to the beautiful Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm on this day, but it will have to wait until the trains and tunnelbana are less chaotic than they are this year. I had planned to pop by the local library in the morning to return the obscene number of books I have out on loan, completely forgetting that of course it was closed on a public holiday. Doh!

However, I had an experience at the local supermarket that put a smile on my face. I was waiting at the checkout behind two small girls who were there to get their Saturday lollies. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but there is a tradition in Sweden that kids tend not to eat lollies every day. Instead Saturday seems to have evolved as the day to buy their treats, with the idea being that they are only exposed to them once a week. I believe that it is thought this once a week pig-out is better for their dental health than daily exposure to even small amounts of lollies.

Anyway, every Saturday you see the local kids gathered around the loose lolly bins, filling their KaramellKungen bags with assorted goodies – and today was no exception.



The young girls I was behind (aged around 7 or 8) had selected a biggish bag of loot, as the lollies were on special this week. At the checkout, the bag was weighed and the price was 56.50kr (about $A10). On being told this, they stood there looking uncomfortable, keeping their eyes down and looking surreptitiously at each other, then one of them opened her hand, revealing a 50kr note and a 5kr coin. The poor kids were 1.50kr (about 25c) short and it was heart melting to see them. I was immediately transported back in time to the St Joseph's Tranmere tuck shop in 1967, when I stood there with my 5c to buy a chocolate Paddle Pop (yes, they really were that cheap back then), only to find that they had gone up in price to 6c and I had to get a lemonade icy pole instead. A very sad day....

I immediately reached into my purse and dropped the 1.50 into her open hand. I was rewarded with a look of surprise, followed by the biggest smile I’ve ever seen, a genuine thankyou and even an offer of a lolly from their bag. What a couple of little cuties. It really lifted my mood and made my day.