nwelcome Sidewalk Shops of Portobello Road

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Recently, while visiting London with a former university classmate, a duke from Finland, the Baron suggested they go shopping one afternoon.

While they were both of royalty, they agreed to dress in a very ordinary and casual manner so as not to be noticed as visiting dignitaries. One of the places that they planned to visit was the outdoor sidewalk shops along Portobello Road. It was a clear day and an ideal time to visit the famed road. But, it wasn’t long until they realized that this was not the place for them or anyone else who had a handicap, as the Duke had to walk with a cane and needed to rest every few blocks. Usually, the Duke would just sit on an outdoor park bench for just a few brief moments before resuming his activities.

Both men had a lot of money to spend if they could find the proper gifts for their friends back home.

But after a few blocks, the Duke politely asked one of the Portobello merchants if there was a place to sit down for a while. The merchant, not realizing that he was addressing royalty, said that if he wanted to sit down, he should do what other people do and that is sit on the curb by the street gutter. The Duke looked at the merchant and said that he could not do that. Fortunately, the Baron was right there to keep things very polite and dignified while they left.

The Baron found a local pub and suggested that they might have some lunch, at which time they both agreed that they would not be shopping on Portobello Road and promptly left.

The Baron, upon returning to Lilliland, wrote a letter to the tourist director of London and said, “If you cannot arrange to have some benches for the handicapped visitors shopping on Portobello Road I shall list in the future that Portobello Road is to be avoided if you want to have a good time visiting London.”

Future would show that the potential problem would be resolved by the merchants association after becoming aware of the needs of handicapped shoppers and visitors.

Otherwise, London was a wonderful place to visit.