Silver linings in strange places

I went to Superquinn yesterday to do some grocery shopping. Unfortunately the banks in Ireland do not think I should have a chip and PIN card, so every time I do shopping I have to withdraw cash from the ATM. I have to say this really irks me as I am accustomed to using plastic and it is so much easier than having to make sure I have enough cash all the time. I guess that is one more of the painful things to add to my list of changing countries, no credit history.
ANYWAY….I got to the ATM and guess what? It was “temporarily out of service” this caused me to want to have a good tantrum as it is the ONLY ATM in the shopping centre! As I stood there trying to decide what the heck to do, a coin security guy came around the van to go into the back of the ATM, my lucky day! I asked him how long he thought the machine would be offline and he looked at me and said…”You should know not to hang around in dangerous places” in what can only be described as a South African accent! I laughed and then looked around and saw that there were 2 cash in transit vans in the car park! Not one gun wielding heavy hiding between the cars or standing at the van, and I suddenly realised that my heart had not gone into thumping mayhem as it used to when I went up to the local shops and saw those vans. I was always petrified that there would be one of those huge hold ups with flying bullets; I know Karen narrowly missed a heist on her way home one day. Of course this was a great epiphany (yes probably a bit of strong word, but I am the author ok?) as my thundercloud above my head evaporated, the fact that I cannot get a chip and pin card was suddenly a small price to pay. As Kirstin clung to me to ward off the freezing wind I suddenly did not feel that cold.