I stumbled upon the strangest shopping district this afternoon. All of the stores had foreign names and were aimed at the most unique markets. There was a business that sold civil war miniatures, one that dealt with various types of elastic, and another that specialised in pet photography. The further I walked the stranger things got. Part way down the road I came across the most interesting sign. Hanging in a shop window was a huge banner with the words ‘Hobo $99’ written across it. ‘Was the store exclusively stocking filthy vagabonds? Was there a re-emerging slave industry? Was the displayed price for a rental period or did it entitle full ownership?’ Surely if I promised a continual flow of cheap wine the right hobo would be happy to do my chores. It was certainly worth a look. I walked in to find an untidy showroom filled with cardboard boxes. A seedy looking sales assistant approached. I asked him about the advertisement. He directed me to an ECO e-reader that was sitting on one of the boxes. “99 dollars?” I said, a little too enthusiastically. “I’ll take it.” I handed the man a hundred dollar note and headed for the door. I wanted to escape before he realised a calculation error. The banner again caught my attention as I stood at the entrance. Curiosity got the better of me; I had to risk the bargain. “What’s this about the hobo?” I asked.
The man looked at me confused. “A hobo?” he repeated.
“Yeah, in your window it says, ‘hobo 99 dollars.’”
“Oh, you mean novo – that’s Bulgarian for new. It’s written in Cyrillic.
The man looked at me confused. “A hobo?” he repeated.
“Yeah, in your window it says, ‘hobo 99 dollars.’”
“Oh, you mean novo – that’s Bulgarian for new. It’s written in Cyrillic.