An Isan village life (6)

The formerly very cozy terrace of liefje-lief's shop has changed considerably, affected by many events and interventions in the course of four years.

The green roof tarpaulin that was used to extend the short projecting metal roof, shamelessly encroaching on a piece of public land, is now stained by the falling green of the surrounding trees. Moreover, the love has also closed the sides, this time with white sails. Against the sun is the reason, but these sails did remove the ever-present gentle breeze that has now been replaced by an artificial one generated by a .

The stone benches have also been affected. The large set has been decimated, of the four benches with backrests only one remains. The others fell in the clumsiness of overly enthusiastic customers, possibly caused by a lack of coordination due to beer or lao kao consumption. The 'strawberry' set (it got that name because of the paintings) has already lost two seats, which now serve as a lower table for goods and plants. Previously there was only a single blue-ugly cool box for ice cream, now there are three and they take up quite a bit of space. The large window at the front, which used to shine some cozy light from the shop on the terrace in the evening, is full of salable items. The ugliness is completed by a metal rack in which bottles of petrol are for sale.
As the crowning glory, an extra large table will now be placed during the day.

It depends how you look at it, a farang like De Inquisitor thinks it has become ugly, the Isan customers don't mind. And not love it at all. Because those extra blue ugly ones have come because of greater sales, the goods that are clearly visible on the window go well because they are child-oriented. Talk about doing business. And that extra table is the second time she appears.

The warm season is coming and then cheap refreshments go well. The sweet makes a kind ice creams, not as a Westerner knows: small pieces of fruit of various kinds first go into a Styrofoam cup, then she grinds ice blocks into grit herself and puts it on top, then four very sweet sauces of her choice and in all colors on top and as the crowning glory condensed sweet milk. They go away like hot cakes, ten baht each. Some kind of milkshakes are also for sale, however, the milk is usually replaced with crushed ice to keep the price down. Plenty of fruit of your choice: mangoes, bananas, pineapple, watermelon, … . Much healthier if you don't take sugar with it, but no one wants it - it has to be sweet.
And so it is that when her daughter is not at home, De Inquisitor regularly has to step in. Who in the beginning ran back and forth on her question but got tired of it. Now the agreement is that De Inquisitor only comes to help during the 'peak' hours, around noon and early evening. And enjoy it, because that produces nice scenes.

His first customer of the day is Inn. An oversized lady who is still a bit shy of that farang, despite the fact that she comes by about three times a day. Until not so long ago she managed to say nothing when The Inquisitor was alone in the shop. Then she lay down and waited for the love. Now that's a little better, she dares to ask for what she needs. An icecream. The customer can choose which kind of fruit and which sauces they want, so, Inn? In her embarrassment she mutters that eternal , which sounds De Inquisitor recognizes as 'it is the same to me'. So of each of the four types what. Oh no, she shouldn't. She wants four servings of the same fruit. The Inquisitor, mindful of her thriftiness, scoops the taken fruit back from her cup into the large pots and grants Inn's wish. The sauces, now The Inquisitor must be sure of course, and he points: 'this one?' Yes. 'And this one?' No. And so a four-minute job becomes a ten-minute job, several enthusiasts have already gathered for a gradually becoming nervous Inquisitor.

It goes on and on, customers come and go, it's warm and sunny, the ice creams are clearly a success.
Sak happens to pass by on his way to his country. He sees the table with all those goodies and feels hopeful in his pockets. As usual no money, not even that meager ten baht. The sweetheart had given clear instructions: ice creams can be paid in cash, not on credit. This is because there were often children who, without their parents or grandparents knowing, occasionally bought candy with the message that it will come to pay. The sweet does not want discussions with those people because they often know nothing.
However, Sak is an adult, a joker too who likes to tease The Inquisitor. (borrow) he says hopefully, but De Inquisitor can now take revenge on his continuous joke. OK Sak, but a baht extra then – interest. Sak's eyes widen, but he thinks anyway. Eleven baht for that ice cream then? Yes, and payable tomorrow.
Sak gets a big smile and then orders just two….

Is there a smart one who asks for strawberry flavor. . Confused the Inquisitor, are those red pieces of fruit in the jar strawberry or not? Another wants no sauces but only condensed milk and De Inquisitor gives too little to his taste. At the next customer, the bowl of crushed ice falls from the Inquisitor's hand and the farang gradually becomes desperate. Where the fuck is the love? Well, he's standing by the window at the back of the shop, watching and laughing himself to death... .

By the evening, De Inquisitor has to get back to work, she wants to cook something delicious and needs an hour. As soon as she is gone, The Inquisitor closes the curtains of the window on the garden side, no more snooping! And he is lucky, it is the men who now come from work in the fields, he can handle that better. Samak stops his tractor right in front of the shop and roars his order, sitting on his rig expecting the requested to be brought. Bad luck that Poa Deing and Luu arrive wanting ice cream too. So Samak's filled cup remains, he doesn't even notice it and is busy talking about today's job. The moment he realizes that his ice cream won't be there for a long time, he gets off his tractor to notice that his ice cream is completely watered down in the heat. Turned into a multicolored warm mush. He looks hopefully at The Inquisitor who plays dumb, . And Samak laughs and slurps the whole thing down … .

The sweet keeps disappearing, the run-up of customers disappears. Time to bake another polish, De Inquisitor thinks. And he sends a message to the sweet: don't you want ice cream ? Sure enough, she'll be there in five minutes. Then The Inquisitor makes it according to the rules of the art, only, he finally cuts a good pack of vinegar over it. She still doubts the first shovel, but the second shovel she takes provides a fantastic view.
It was a pity that there was no time to take a picture, but De Inquisitor had to flee … .

Such a shop, isn't it nice? Despite the fact that the sense of aesthetics of the farang is gone.