This picture was taken more recently,2005 in fact. I was working in a Pet Supplies Shop called Cheep! It was a diversion that my career took that I didn't expect. I had worked in the computer games business for about 18 years when the shop owner decided that competition was too fierce and that he was changing the shop to a Pet Shop. So I had to learn all about worm tablets, fish tanks, parrot toys and dog leads. Fortunately for me we continued with a limited range of video games, and many of our customers wanted wild bird food which I was already familiar with as I had been feeding the birds for some years.
The other good thing was that many of our customers were more of my age and we had many regulars that I got to know quite well. I also got to know some of their pets who came in with them, including one dog called Molly who would arrive about 20 second before her owner and would sit and and wait by the counter gate for me to give her a treat or two.
We also had at least one feral pigeon that would wander in from Gravesend High Street and peck around on the floor looking for odd seeds. Sometimes they would venture a bit too far and have their escape route blocked by customers. They would then panic, the pigeon not the customers, and have to be rescued from awkward corners of the shop.
It was a happy and interesting time for me, and I was there up until my retirement in 2008
