Got Any R & B?

It’s not how I usually like to spend my Sunday mornings, particularly when it’s raining, but a friend convinced me it would be fun – and she needed a car. With a 6am start involved, the jollity factor would have to be seriously high as, by my reckoning, any time before 10am on weekends is classed as the middle of the night. That’s how I came to be standing in a soggy field at a car boot sale, flogging off my household clutter and marvelling at the curiosities of human behaviour.

While it was definitely therapeutic to thin out my hoard of books and to set a few handbags free, the idea of making the effort to sell them rather than just dropping them off as a job lot at the charity shop seemed too tedious to contemplate. Yet, as the rain-clouds cleared and all of human life wandered past our stall, it was a revelation – I actually began to enjoy myself. It must be that ‘spirit of the blitz’ British influence. Somehow standing dripping wet in a field, being swarmed by people who left their charm at the door when they put on their bargain-hunting faces, turned out to be a riot.

We learned a few things along the way too. At one point, feeling a bit bored and stir crazy, we started styling the clothes on the rail with accessories and sorting them in colour ranges, while doing our best Trinny and Susannah impressions. We – and some discerning customers – found it quite entertaining, but your average punter was deterred entirely by the professional merchandising. There was barely a flicker of interest after that. Rule one of the car-boot is clearly that presentation is everything, ie if it looks like a dog’s dinner, it must be cheap.

My absolute favourite moment, though, came courtesy of our musically-inclined customers. My friend had a small basket of CDs for sale and, while she was off foraging for the necessary market stall cup of tea strong enough, as my grandfather would say, to trot a mouse on – one customer couldn’t even be bothered looking at them before asking ‘Got any R&B?’. I pointed out a couple of items, but my suggestions were met with disdain, as apparently she preferred the slower stuff. Curious behaviour, I thought, until someone else showed up half an hour later demanding to know if we had any Beatles. Did they think we were running Tower Records out of the back of the Merc? I was half tempted to say that she’d find them just behind the World Music section in the second aisle.

However, my complete admiration goes to the prankster who happened to be browsing when this exchange took place. He had a giggle with us about it and wandered off. An hour or so later, he re-appeared at the stall and, with perfect timing and a gloriously deadpan expression, uttered the immortal words, ‘Got any R&B?’. The man’s a comic genius.

This week make an effort to do something completely and utterly different – something that you’ve never previously considered. Take a chance. You might even like it. There’s a real sense of invigoration and renewal that comes from shaking up your routine. It gets you out of your rut and helps you think differently. Even if it involves a little hardship – like an early morning call and exposure to the elements – give it a try. You never know who you might meet or where it might lead. Amid the laughs, unexpectedly, there were also some interesting metaphysical conversations, by virtue of the types of books on sale, as people could see what I was interested in and wanted to chat.

Clear some clutter too. It’s very liberating – and a real eye-opener. I was mortified to see how much of my stuff had hardly been worn, if ever. As a card-carrying pack-rat, it doesn’t come naturally to let it go, but it does feel a lot better to know that someone else is making good use of things that were just junking up my house. Now I’m on a mission to get rid of the rest. Anyone for a car-boot? Bring your R&B CD’s – we could do business!

Speaking of giving things a new twist, here’s a treat for you in the shape of my friend Harriet Roberts’ new music video. It’s a fabulous new version of the classic 80’s Don Henley track, Boys Of Summer. I love it when someone takes a well-known melody, changes the tempo and creates something just as outstanding as the original. When you hear it, you’ll think it was always meant to sound like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ4DqitUSuY

For the Coach Fabulous archives, go to www.coachfabulous.blogspot.com and for the I Am Fabulous archives, go to www.fabcentral.blogspot.com. You can email me at coachfabulous@iamfabulous.co.uk. All material ©2008 Alison Porter. No article may be reproduced in full or in part without the express permission of the author. (Originally posted 30 Jun 08)