Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Who will buy...?

The kids and their neighbourhood cronies spent a number of afternoons constructing...! They would go over to the dump next to our house and find whatever they could that looked good enough to build with. Eventually, dad helped with their project and the tuck shop was borne. They had quite a few customers in spite of their high prices, although Dad helped out with that too because he asked workers on campus to go over and buy and he gave them the money to do it too :) What a Dad! However, business has been slow of late because the kids ate up quite a bit of their merchandise. Now they're waiting for a trip into town so they can stock up on their wares.

Getting started. Bradley: "Oh no, what am I getting into here?"

Steve (he works in our home) purchasing a frosted cookie for 50 kwacha (30 cents- US).
Daddy and uncle Matt also supported the on campus tuck shop.

4 comments:

Sybrand and Beth de Swardt said...

I want to buy at their shop!

Lishe said...

great idea! so many employees haha :)

Laura said...

Too cute! I'm just wondering what a "tuck" is???

By the Brook said...

For all my dear American Friends:

A tuck shop is a small, food-selling retailer. It is a term principally used in the UK, Canada, South Africa and Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, and occasionally in other parts of the former British Empire. In New South Wales the term is interchangeable with the word canteen. When the tuck shop is in a school, it is frequently the only place (other than the school canteen) where monetary transactions can be made. As such, particularly in the UK, they often sell items of stationery too, although food is still their primary source of income and customers. In Australia at both youth clubs and schools the tuck shop is mainly staffed by volunteers from the community, this may include students, parents and in the case of clubs; members. The term is also used in Indian boarding schools. In Canada, summer camps often have tuck shops for the same reason, to allow campers to buy small items while away from home.

The term "tuck", meaning food, is slang and probably originates from such phrases as "to tuck into a meal". It is also closely related to the Australian English word "tucker", also meaning food. A tuck shop typically sells confectionery finger-food, such as sweets, crisps, fizzy drinks and so on. In recent years, there have been moves to change to a wider variety of "healthier" foods. In Australia, where the tuck shop will typically be the only source of bought food at the school/club, the menu is more substantial and is more similar to the school dinners provided by the British government.