08 DEC 09

Tuesday
I got up unnecessarily early for lectures this morning and logged onto Studentbeans.com. Orders for free (albeit somewhat useless) objects were in place and the day’s blagging pressure was significantly reduced.
I thought it might be worth asking the lady in the post office to reduce the cost of my stamps for a parcel to Germany, but it wasn’t. I did manage to acquire a free Cadbury’s Flake from someone dressed as a chocolate bar in the St. David’s Centre though.

The time had come to test the part of the blagging definition that mentions deception. This was not something I felt completely comfortable with, but figured that if push came to shove then any guilt could be slyly passed from my conscience to gair rhydd. Unfortunately I was sadly lacking in inspiration, and walking up and down Queen Street too often just makes you more susceptible to being pounced on to donate £2 a month to well-meaning charities, which would be somewhat counter-productive today. I then spotted a man, whom everyone seemed to be deliberately avoiding, holding a collection of books. I composed my blagging motives and adopted nerves of steel. I approached. I talked with him about the Hare Krishna movement and managed not to buy a book. I listened to his pleas to help the homeless. I still managed not to buy a book. I started looking for an escape route, but none was forthcoming. I gave him my small change to help out his community projects and sloped off home to come to terms with my first Anti-blag. Exchanging an e-voucher for a free loaf of bread at Co-op did little to improve my mood.