Topics: Morning Rituals 3

Every Friday morning I go down this street at 6:00 AM to get to mass on the other side of Phnom Penh.  This is a street full of shops selling medical supplies.  When I go by on the way to mass, the area in front of the shops is empty.  When I come back at 7:20 AM, it has really been transformed!

This is looking east on the street of medical shops, at 6:00 AM.
This is looking west on the same street at the same time. There’s not much on display at 6:00 AM.

 


When I return an hour and fifteen minutes later, the sidewalk has been transformed into a display area for wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, bedpans, dividers, walkers, crutches, you name it.
There are maybe eight or nine such shops on this street, and each one drags its wares out every morning and puts them back into the shop in the evening.
Can you imagine rolling each of the oxygen tanks out one-by-one and then carrying all the fire extinguishers and lining them up according to size? But then may it’s the best part of the day: it’s cooler and there is something to do rather than just sit and wait for customers.