Deep Heat and Root Beer

I went to bed slathered in Deep Heat last night, to try to ease the discomfort in my lower back.

I love the smell of the stuff - it reminds me of Root Beer, which left me in nostalgic mood as I drifted off, thinking about my childhood Saturday routine of food and football with good friends.

Start by meeting Mumbage, Soxie, Hunty and Plum to catch the Number 1 bus into Norwich. Straight to the market to purchase cockles & mussels alive-alive-o (well cooked actually). In a pre-curser to the Yo-Sushi style so favoured by young trendies today, you just ate tiny plate after tiny plate of salty mollusc's, then just paid for the number of plates consumed.

Next JJB Sports to peruse the sporting regalia. Careful with that snooker cue display Stoxie!

Onwards to Jarrolds, this time to tit about on the latest fitness/sporting sensation, the Trimball!


Anyone remember this baby? The idea was to bounce in an orderly fashion, and get fit in the process, unless you were a Cringleford lad. Jarrolds had a demo model, and the idea of the game was to do the best 'Platini'. That is, whilst completed un-impinged by friends or other shoppers, fling your arms in the air, shout 'PLATINI!!!', and dive headlong into the display in the style of cheating UEFA boss Michel Platini.

Stoxie was by far the best at this, and in recognition of this fact it was added into his already massive full title.

Richard Stoxie striker Nery Alberto Pumpido on the Trimball

Which was more than often shortened to simply 'Baller', or 'ohh laa laa le balon'

Legging it out the shop, it would then be time for a pre match McDonalds.

Huntys favourite game here would be to ask for a Coke with his meal, to which the sales assistant would have to say 'It's McDonalds cola, is that ok?', to which the stock response would always be 'No, it's not. I'll have a Root Beer'

Every week.

Standard food was a Big Mac, complete with mucky gherkins. None of us ate the gherkins, but we never asked for one without them, because they were required for the next 'lucky routine', which was to fling than at the ceiling in Mucky D's and see if you could get them to stick. We thought we were so funny, but if I saw kids doing that today, I'd probably get the urge to smack them upside the head.

If you were lucky, there was a kids party on with yellow and green balloons that you could nick to take to the football with you.

If you were unlucky, they were attached so firmly to the light fitting that the whole thing came out the wall, and you would be legging it out of another Norwich establishment.....

Happy days and highjinks...

It's a shame you don't see Root Beer at McDonalds any more, or even McDonalds cola - they've gone all official Coke.

And don't try eating the stuff to see if it tastes the same, because it doesn't, although it does leave a pleasant tingling taste on the tongue.