A New World

When I saw the huge black glass facade of something called 'Poundworld' on the high street, I thought it was unlikely that this was going to be an Ezra Pound theme park - but what was it? Surely an establishment on such a scale couldn't be filled with stuff selling for a quid, could it? Especially as it was only a few doors away from a perfectly satisfactory Poundland...
 Reader (contain your excitement), it was! This was Poundworld indeed - a world packed full of quid-priced stuff. And I have to say it was one of the most depressing interiors I've ever set foot in - a vast, warehouse-like space with draining overhead strip lighting that reduced such colour as there was to a lifeless grey and induced a feeling like the prelude to a migraine attack. It was rather like a Soviet-era supermarket, except that the shelves, far from being empty, were piled high with stuff - stuff that seemed to be much the same as the stuff in any other pound shop, just displayed in greater quantities.  By the time I'd reached the far end, I was losing the will to live, and could only turn and head as fast as I could back towards the entrance, weaving my way through the browsing throng. The place was clearly doing a roaring trade, the checkout queue stretching away into the grey distance. I've no idea why - novelty perhaps? But then I've no idea about many features of this mystifying modern world.
 Relieved to be out again in the fresh air and natural light, I strolled a few doors down the street and glanced almost fondly into the old familiar Poundland.