Went to Toys R Us and despite the soothing cadences of In Our Time talking about Seneca it was the usual nightmare. Toy shops are filthy places, full of filthy customers and disgusting cheap gendered plastic, a environmental catastrophe for which one is expected to pay through the nose. For one who values value for money, it’s actively painful.
(I’m writing this sitting on the balcony where an epic storm is building. It’s completely dark, cool breezes, thunder from behind thick clouds. I think I see rain rolling in from the gap in the skyscrapers that looks towards the hills. The best thing about this city are the storms.)
Anyhow, after wandering around shuddering at the cost of cheap brightly plastic with frayed edges, I came away with a large box of duplo for the nephew, and for the servants’ kids: toy cars, nail stickers, glow in the dark stars and an educational stacking toy for the 6-month-old.
Such a farce.