It was two weeks ago or last year, in the last days of December 2021. A day with a gusty yet sunny, cool afternoon, I arrived close to five o'clock at my house. Strange these days, I was away from my computer screen for the entire day. Yet, my dash to where it is was in vain. There was no power in our neighbourhood.

I did not want to gamble with the power left in my laptop’s battery, as I did not want to miss sitting in front of it at nightfall, should the power not return. It was then that it came to my mind that the time was fit for a walk. It was also a bit embarrassing that my list of New Year’s resolutions minimised the frequency of sitting in front of a computer screen.

It looked awkward, for a while, to me how my mood swung from that of annoyance to excitement, straight away fetching the psychological metaphor of “cognitive reframing.” It is the process of changing the way one looks at something.

Lost in thought, I arrived at a supermarket close to my neighbourhood. Its Christmas vibe followed me until I finished shopping and left the place. Then, I continued my walk to a popular gulit, a roadside market in my vicinity.

As I approached it, I passed street food corners, serving customers on queues. The offerings ranged from ertib, chopped boiled potatoes with pepper and shredded potato sandwiches, which are popular these days, to potato chips, samosa, and roasted cereals in variety. The new entrant to the scene is fish fried with boiling oil on the spot. I saw customers who parked their vehicles around for takeaways.

I continued to other street vendors. As the scent of the spicy aroma was struggling with my mask, I was amazed by the street vendors’ service spirit in looking after their customers. Core sales capabilities such as relationship management, negotiation and personal characteristics of flexibility and persuasiveness are plenty here, more so than at the supermarkets I frequent.