What?
The peculiar fantasy that my effectively sister in law
Jenny runs a shop selling gels of all kinds.
When?
c.2001 -
Why?
Being as the whole thing is totally fictional, I really don't know. It just
seems like a good idea (not to Jenny though).
What happened?
Jen used to teach chemistry, and one of my favourite lessons in chemistry always
used to be those on gels, emulsions, and foams. One day (can't recall why) we were talking about
gels, and the idea just sprang into my head unbidden. She lived in York at the
time, which seemed like the sort of place a shop selling nothing but gels might
do quite well. In my mind, Jen's Gels would sell products such as:
- Edible gels, such as jelly (obviously), jelly babies, jelly sweets,
jellied fruits etc.
- Cosmetic gels, like shower gels, shaving gel, and jelly soap
- Medicinal gels, such as KY
- DIY gels, like Nitromors jelly paint stripper
- Gel biros
- Non gel gels, like 'jelly' flip-flops
In my minds eye, the shop is quite small but packed full of all the good
things described above, broken down into sections. The sign over the front would
be made of wobbly clear plastic letters filled with different coloured gels. A
(rubbish) artist's impression of how Jen's Gels might look is included below, based on a shop in York. If it's your shop, sorry about that, I'm
not implying anything.
When Will it End?
Although Jenny was quite tolerant
of this when it first started, four years on she's getting sick of it.
Mentioning Jen's Gels now earns me a warning look, or, if she's really in a
strop, a shot from a BB gun / clip round the ear. I still like it though.
Loose Ends
The following loose ends still remain.
If you can answer them, please email me.
- Are there any other gel shops out there, or is Jen's
Gels the first?
- I would like a definitive list
of gel products. If you can think of any not mentioned above, please email me.
Play Along at Home
Why not try collecting all the gels in your home into one place? Then just sit
and stare at them, rocking gently, until members of your family start to worry
about you. Or, if you have a vacant retail area, how about opening a gel shop of
your own? Surely there's no way a business like that could ever fail. Somebody
call Alan Sugar.
