Iceland
A shop that I generally notice on my daily runs is "Iceland", which, upon a bit of research, I found out is a grocery store. However, this company is quite uncommon in London, for I have only seen one of its kind, after travelling to many parts of the city. So today, I decided to see what the store was like. I am no stranger to Tesco, Sainsbury's, or even Marks and Spencer (when I have extra cash at hand, that is), so I had a good baseline to compare Iceland, to the more common grocery stores.
On the way back from my run, I slowed down as the store came ahead of me. It was located on the side of the main road, and it was pretty large. I stood at the entrance, and the sliding doors welcomed me in with a "whoosh". I immediately became aware that the store's inside was extremely cold; surprising since the outside temperature was probably 3 degrees Celsius. I chuckled, however, at how the store manager took the name of the shop literally, when he set the thermostat. I had no intention of purchasing any goods (mainly because I had no money at hand), but I wandered the isles anyways, mentally comparing the prices of items there to the prices found at the competitors' shelves. I was impressed, and I knew I had to tell my mother about the bargain prices found in this store.
I continued my venture inside Iceland, when I noticed something quite eerie. There were no other customers apart from myself. Now this astonished me. For a shop at the side of the main road, with great prices, I would expect it to be full, especially considering the time of the day. I did not let this deter me, and I continued to explore the contents of the shop. As I approached the back end of the building, I saw a flight of stair going down, with a board saying "Way to Iceland". I was flabbergasted; was I not already in Iceland? I looked around to see if any employees could clear my confusion, but since I could not find any, I decided to venture downstairs, to uncover what lay below.
As I walked down the stairs, I felt the temperature creep down even lower than before. The air in front of me fogged up, and the tips of my ears and fingers began to throb. Disregarding the discomfort, I trudged down the final steps, when, all of a sudden, I slipped, and came crashing down and my back! I tried getting up, but the ground was too slippery. So, I used the stairway banister behind me, to hoist up my bruised self. Once I had regained my balance, I looked around, and lo and behold, in front of me was a floor of ice. More precisely, ice land.
The entire situation baffled me, and wanting to find out answers, I climbed back up the stairs, heading to the check out counter, to figure out the purpose of the icy land down below. However, when I reached back to the ground floor, a security guard grabbed a hold of me roughly and said, "hey! The store is closing now. You have to leave!". I protested, and replied, "sure, but could you tell me why the ground is covered with ice down stairs?". The man said, "sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. You really must leave now, sir". In my confused state, I let the man take me to the exit of the store. "I hope you shop with us again soon. Good bye". And with that, the sliding doors closed behind me.
I was desperate to find the answer to why the ground was covered with ice, at the basement level of Iceland, so I planned to visit again the next day, at the opening hour, to solve the mystery.
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Edit: I walked into the store at 10 am the next morning, and I immediately headed down to the back of the store. Surprisingly, the board sign I saw the day before was replaced with "Staff Only. No Entry for Customers". Despite this, I climbed down the stairs, to see the icy land again. But, it was gone! The ground was ground again, and the room was filled with containers, of what I guessed was unopened stock. I was stunned, when an employee saw me and said, "mate, you're not supposed to be here, ye". I stuttered, and replied, "sorry, but where did the ice floor go?". The moment I asked the question, I knew I must have sounded like a lunatic. And the employee thought the same. "Ya tryin' ta have a crack at me, mate? Well, how 'bout ya get back up the stairs and out of ma store! I don't want no loonies here in my establishment, so get out before I call the security, ye!" I was scared, so I rushed back up the stairs, and quickly left Iceland. I still do not know the mystery behind the ice land below.
On the way back from my run, I slowed down as the store came ahead of me. It was located on the side of the main road, and it was pretty large. I stood at the entrance, and the sliding doors welcomed me in with a "whoosh". I immediately became aware that the store's inside was extremely cold; surprising since the outside temperature was probably 3 degrees Celsius. I chuckled, however, at how the store manager took the name of the shop literally, when he set the thermostat. I had no intention of purchasing any goods (mainly because I had no money at hand), but I wandered the isles anyways, mentally comparing the prices of items there to the prices found at the competitors' shelves. I was impressed, and I knew I had to tell my mother about the bargain prices found in this store.
I continued my venture inside Iceland, when I noticed something quite eerie. There were no other customers apart from myself. Now this astonished me. For a shop at the side of the main road, with great prices, I would expect it to be full, especially considering the time of the day. I did not let this deter me, and I continued to explore the contents of the shop. As I approached the back end of the building, I saw a flight of stair going down, with a board saying "Way to Iceland". I was flabbergasted; was I not already in Iceland? I looked around to see if any employees could clear my confusion, but since I could not find any, I decided to venture downstairs, to uncover what lay below.
As I walked down the stairs, I felt the temperature creep down even lower than before. The air in front of me fogged up, and the tips of my ears and fingers began to throb. Disregarding the discomfort, I trudged down the final steps, when, all of a sudden, I slipped, and came crashing down and my back! I tried getting up, but the ground was too slippery. So, I used the stairway banister behind me, to hoist up my bruised self. Once I had regained my balance, I looked around, and lo and behold, in front of me was a floor of ice. More precisely, ice land.
The entire situation baffled me, and wanting to find out answers, I climbed back up the stairs, heading to the check out counter, to figure out the purpose of the icy land down below. However, when I reached back to the ground floor, a security guard grabbed a hold of me roughly and said, "hey! The store is closing now. You have to leave!". I protested, and replied, "sure, but could you tell me why the ground is covered with ice down stairs?". The man said, "sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. You really must leave now, sir". In my confused state, I let the man take me to the exit of the store. "I hope you shop with us again soon. Good bye". And with that, the sliding doors closed behind me.
I was desperate to find the answer to why the ground was covered with ice, at the basement level of Iceland, so I planned to visit again the next day, at the opening hour, to solve the mystery.
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Edit: I walked into the store at 10 am the next morning, and I immediately headed down to the back of the store. Surprisingly, the board sign I saw the day before was replaced with "Staff Only. No Entry for Customers". Despite this, I climbed down the stairs, to see the icy land again. But, it was gone! The ground was ground again, and the room was filled with containers, of what I guessed was unopened stock. I was stunned, when an employee saw me and said, "mate, you're not supposed to be here, ye". I stuttered, and replied, "sorry, but where did the ice floor go?". The moment I asked the question, I knew I must have sounded like a lunatic. And the employee thought the same. "Ya tryin' ta have a crack at me, mate? Well, how 'bout ya get back up the stairs and out of ma store! I don't want no loonies here in my establishment, so get out before I call the security, ye!" I was scared, so I rushed back up the stairs, and quickly left Iceland. I still do not know the mystery behind the ice land below.