While walking through town today I felt a sudden desire for English sausages. I was getting quite hungry as I fasted for 40 hours straight (yes, I have been doing intermittent fasting again and not only I finally lost weight but also I don’t have to watch my portion sizes when I eat). I was initially planning to fast further 3 hours but then thought, sod it, I want to eat right now. I checked a couple of places and realised that fried mushrooms disappeared from traditional breakfast and hash browns had been replaced by chips. I don’t mind not having mushrooms that much but I really like hash browns so I was somehow disappointed.

I was considering whether it could be better to order a different meal but I really wanted sausages. Finally I went to Wetherspoon which is a chain of cheap pubs. A lot of older men go there to drink but it doesn’t bother me; moreover its atmosphere reminds me of our village pub that I used to visit with my grandad when I was 4 (OK, I don’t really remember that much).

Whetherspoon menu stated the price of ‘all day brunch’ with a soft drink was £6.99 if ordered between 2 and 5 pm but when I went to order I was told it’s £4.80. I paid and only then I felt really confused; I thought maybe the bartender didn’t hear me properly and I only paid for orange juice but then that would be too much, at least for this particular place. The bartender confirmed that I paid for brunch and juice. It felt silly to me to ask if they have yet another special offer on top of the afternoon deal so I just said thank you and went to my table (would you ask?).

I really like baked beans but these ones weren’t the best, sausages weren’t great either. I suppose for the price I shouldn’t complain but I’d rather pay a bit more and have a nice meal. I guess compromising on food quality is how Wetherspoon wants to tackle cost of living crisis which unfortunately reminds me of similar approach in Poland some years ago. I never thought I’d see that in the UK. But at least I wasn’t hungry anymore.

When I came to the bus stop I realised my downstairs neighbour is there. We exchanged a couple of words and then another woman joined us so I moved away as those two chatted. And then, when the bus reached my stop I decided I’d go to a shopping centre a few stops further down. I didn’t need to buy anything, I just wanted to avoid the neighbour. Do you think I’m weird?