Sign o' the times

I know times are hard, but has it really come to this?

The American Embassy are having a garage sale in the building next to ours. It turns out that they own the building, which would explain the omnipresent security guards, who are only ever so slightly threatening (and fairly hot in their tight little uniforms).

Anyway, all day I've been watching a steady flow of people arriving, and fancy office furniture, lamps and chandeliers leaving. People have been leaving with big smiles on their faces and mahogany desks on their trolleys.

The quality of the goods is unmistakable - this is good shit, man. A bit ugly, a bit old-fashioned, a bit 'American Embassy' but hey, the good folk of Nanterre seem pretty pleased.

Now I'm guessing that the majority of the furniture has sat in meeting rooms and administrative offices, and that it has had a pretty dull life. But I can equally imagine the things that some of those other pieces have seen. The dignitaries and diplomats who have sat in those chairs, the conversations that have taken place beneath those chandeliers.

Let's hope that they've raised enough money from the sale to contribute to the failing US economy.

If they have any left, perhaps they could keep little Gordon Brown in mind...