Aldi, 8:14 am. I’m standing at the checkout with groceries for a day of undisturbed writing. The man in front of me, in sweatpants and a hoodie, has two cans of Schultenbräu on the belt. He turns around, looks at me sharply: “You have to be careful!”

I had already taken an extra meter of human space, but I still shrank back a bit. He smiles: “Those school chalk drops, they are very addictive!”

Sybrand Frietema de Vries

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The journalistic principles of NRC

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