The magnet shop opened while the demonstration fridge was still humming a quiet breakfast tune. Paper notes filed along the door, each with a seat no bigger than a stamp, and sat down in a row until the milk bottle on the shelf gave a small nod.
We asked the keeper, who keeps spare magnets in a biscuit tin labeled after porridge. "They are not in a hurry," she said. "A seat is only a hello. One good morning is plenty if the milk has been greeted first."
In the little book by the till someone had written, in handwriting as round as a bottle cap: "The shopping list waited, and the milk nodded back. Please do not stack them. — a grateful oat pan."