There was a definite nip in the air on Friday lunchtime.

The coldness put an extra spring in my step to try to help keep me warm as yours truly promenaded around Wycombe town centre.

Making my way down the High Street I was shocked to see an elderly lady standing beside one of the market stalls feeding the pigeons with some form of bird seed.

It's bad enough that the town is blighted with the infernal air rats without passers by actually encouraging the pesky pigeons.

As fast as the seed was thrown out the feathered pests gobbled it up. Surely the hungry people of the world need feeding before the avian daredevils who swoop down on us as we walk along?

If it hadn't been for the cold weather, and an approaching policeman, yours truly would have given the old lady a piece of my mind and told her in no uncertain terms exactly what my opinions of feeding the pigeons is.

Onwards I walked towards the complex.

Sadly the CD shop now has a large closing down notice in the window.

As shoppers milled around there was a tinge of sadness in the air at the impending closure of one of the few useful shops left in that part of town.

Looking through the window the shelves were still full of goods just waiting the be taken home and played on a CD player to bring cheer to someone's day.

I decided not to go in as I always feel that when a business closes it's best to remember the shop as it was at the height of its glory rather than in the decline of its last few hours.

Seeing that trusty shop standing there condemned to closure brought a tear to my eye indeed after seeing one of my favourite shops in such a state of distress my good self was left feeling quite down and unhappy.

With lunchtime time nearly over I decided to cheer myself up and nipped into a nearby chemist to avail myself with a several squirts of aftershave from one of their many 'tester' bottles.

My good self may have left the complex smelling sweet but I could not help thinking of the funny smell (or should that be pungent odour?) that's drifting over our country, indeed the whole world in fact, created by the bankers whose reckless dealing started the economic downturn.

With their sharp suits, fast cars and big bonuses they have seemingly got away scot free and left the ordinary people to pick up the fallout from their calamitous dealings.

Even my good self has had to make cutbacks in these recent times but others have been, or about to be hit even harder.

Once again the ordinary people pay the price for someone else mistake.

On my way home I called in at a local petrol station to fill up my trusty car. To my horror the high-octane fuel which my car needs was retailing at £1.44 per litre, or £7.85 per proper gallon.

It is any wonder the people did not have and disposable income to spend in the shops? The public are being fleeced left right and centre for every penny they have.

What do you think?