So came last Sunday. The long awaited first market organised solely around the hype of up to fifty thousand Chelsea fans. This was going to be the first of many. I expected a massive trader turn out and the desperate traders of London did not disappoint.I will tell you who was there. There were three Jamaican jerk stalls, a Portuguese stall, Two Turkish stalls, one Pastry stall,two fruit juice stalls,one Ghanaian stall,one Thai stall, one Chinese stall, one Chinese stall not selling Chinese food Stall, One Roast Hog Stall, one Sausage/hot dog stall, one Venezuelan stall.There were many more stalls but because I arrived late, I couldn,t really take it all in but the boyfriend had rung me earlier as he went to set up."Guess what Kiru" he had asked? and I hate it when he does that. He is a die hard fault finder."No I am not guessing nothing and I don,t want you dampening my spirits .Whatever you may have found out, we cant back out now we have already paid up" " Listen to this" he continued,ignoring my reply."There are about 20 food stalls here and they include the usual suspects.You know, your friends from some of your previous markets and I have just spoken to a shop keeper and he is staggered that there are so many food stalls here today because we are not in the path of most of the fans" . A swear word involuntarily escaped my lips. He cautioned me.It was too late. I had already prepared food for at least 200 fans. Under normal circumstances this is not a an unachievable target but even Jamie Oliver would struggle to make this sale in an over clogged market with detouring fans.I cursed and uncursed the organizer. Times were hard and just like me, everyone, the market organizer and the vendors alike were all trying to make impossible ends meet.
After our food was displayed, the severity of the disaster that was this market hit me when at 5 pm,about an hour after the game started we had only taken £53 quid! We would be required to start packing up at 7pm! What if this was it? we had paid £80 to be there. My heart sank as I surveyed other traders reactions.One trader bit into his thumb .Another cupped his chin.The Chinese stall holder who was not selling Chinese food made his way towards my stall. "Busy"? He joked. The irony was not lost on me . "Yes too busy that I can,t even talk to you" We both laughed nervously as we both agreed that perhaps we should have done some more research on the route taken by the fans before blindly storming Fulham with so much food.
Half time came and we breathed a sigh of relief as I had a few sales.But then as suddenly as it had begun, the trade stopped when the game resumed. Perhaps there is hope yet I hoped.Then without warning at just before 7, I saw them. A sea of blue shirts of various heights and build flooding towards the square. The boyfriend lit all our stoves and the aroma from the heated food drew the hungry ones to my stall and we began to sell. Long may it continue I prayed.For the next hour we were kept on our toes but at the end of it all, we looked up and around and saw that all the other stalls bar the Turkish had not made any sales.
At 8pm,the Moroccan Cafe owner came over and warned us to bring our own chairs and tables the next time we are back because our customers have been using his and he was not going to tolerate that next time.Shortly after, the market organizer came back and" congratulated" us on being busy.We told him that we did not consider that mini rush that was over in just an hour as busy. Would we like to attend the next game on Wednesday and also, he was organizing a market on a square in Harrow road?. Do we care to come?The boyfriend scowled and said "No Mate" We did not exactly conquer Fulham today did we?
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