"Où est l'ED?"

ED is a chain of discount supermarkets in Paris. We had seen  many of ED's advertisements on Metro walls, but one of them stopped us dead in our tracks. It promised a delicious brand of coveted digestive biscuits at an unheard-of price.

We set out for an ED located in a far-off district. Several changes of Metro lines and buses were necessary. Where was the ED? The map said it was just around the next corner. We trudged on.

We found ourselves on a 15-mile walk through a labyrinth of hot, dusty streets grilled by an angry noonday sun. Hours later, exhausted, we stumbled into the ED, only to find THEY HAD NO BISCUITS. How could this be?

It was still early. We decided to try another ED, thinking they might have them in another part of town. More buses. More Metro. More walking. On arrival, the ever-resourceful JoeY strode up to the cashier and thrust his digital camera at the blasé clerk, showing him a digital photo of the biscuit poster that had driven us to desperation.

The clerk shook his head. "No" was all he said. It was only then that we discovered the cruel, cruel trick fate had played on us. The poster advertising ED's special biscuit price was dated: 2 through 6 septembre! We had missed the sale by ONE DAY! And ED, in its fiendish way, had removed every last biscuit from the store shelves.

Oh, ED!